


Love Thy Neighbor

by Squatta



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Minor Character Death, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-12 14:32:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1188735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squatta/pseuds/Squatta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Eren was young, a new neighbor moved in next door who he became attached to growing up. Over the years, his feelings for his neighbor started to change, and an event in his life will cause him to depend on this neighbor more than he would've imagined. RiRen. *** Only prologue is in first person *** Please consider the completion date of this fic before reviewing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my FF.net account on 7/31/13 and finished on 12/13/13.  
> * Only the prologue is told in first person

When I was about 6 years old someone new moved into the apartment next door. During the move I got a glance of the new resident, and to be honest, he was a little intimidating to look at. He wasn't very tall but he had this permanent furrow on his brow, he just didn't look very sociable. He probably would've been really handsome if he didn't look so mad. It looked like he was the only person moving in so I wasn't very interested in getting to know him, but mom insisted that we go over and introduce ourselves once the movers were done.

I really didn't want to go; he was kind of scary looking and looked like the kind of guy who wouldn't want to associate with his neighbors. My mother baked my favorite apple pie that morning, but it was for this guy! We didn't even know if he was a nice guy or not, so why make him a pie?

"Eren, please behave yourself, ok? It's only right to be nice to your neighbors. Now, be a big boy and be on your best behavior!" My mom lectured me before we headed over to greet him.

"I got it, mom…" I said with a pout.

She ran her hand through my hair, attempting to make it a bit nicer and knocked on the door. Quiet footsteps were heard at the other end of the door and with a click it opened.

"Hello! My name is Carla Yeager and this is my son, Eren. We live one door down and thought we'd introduce ourselves since we'll be living next to each other from now on," mom gave a kind smile.

"Ah, yes, hello. My name is Levi," the man said in a flat tone. He still looked like he was angry or something.

Levi looked down at me and I hid behind my mother. He was really intimidating for a short adult.

"Eren! Don't be so rude! Sorry, he's a little shy," she explained. "Oh! And I made this pie! Its apple, I hope you'll like it."

"Thank you," he took the pie and gave a slight bow, "Would you two like to come in for tea?"

"Oh, that's very kind of you but I'm sure you're busy unpacking and all," my mom definitely wasn't one to burden others.

"It's fine, I've just brewed some so it's no trouble at all, I insist."

"My, you're such a kind young man. Well, please excuse us then!" My mother grabbed my hand and we walked over the threshold of the apartment.

It smelled like soap and lemon… Cleaning supplies? He's already cleaning the apartment and he just got here?

We sat at his table while he went to get the tea; he dug out a couple more tea cups from his boxes. He brought over the cups, then the tea pot and sugar and joined us at the table, pouring our tea for us. I guess he wasn't such a bad guy after all, but he still looked really intimidating.

"So, Levi, what brings you to this area?" My mother asked as she added some sugar to her tea.

"I'm attending the nearby university, I wanted to live within walking distance," he answered, picking his teacup up by the rim and taking a sip. What a weird way to drink tea.

"You do look about that age, how exciting! I bet you're eager to start," my mother smiled and added some sugar to my tea.

"Yes, I suppose so," Levi glanced over in my direction… No, it was more like a glare… "So, how old are you?"

I grabbed onto my mom's dress and didn't give him an answer.

"Eren, what did I tell you? Answer the young man!"

"…S-Six…" I said quietly.

"Ah, so young," he replied with a smirk.

"I'm not a kid!" I yelled; something about the way he said that made me angry, like he was talking down to me.

"Eren! Don't shout at him!" my mother scolded me, "I'm sorry, Levi, he doesn't do so well with meeting new people."

That's not true! It's just this guy, I don't like him!

I crossed my arms and sulked for the rest of the visit and didn't say a word. Needless to say, because of my behavior, we didn't stay much longer. My mom apologized again to him but he said it was fine and that, 'sometimes kids act like that'. Whatever!

A few days later, I was walking home from elementary school. My mother usually walked me home but she had something important to attend to. My father worked a lot so he was never able to pick me up. Luckily, my school wasn't very far from our apartment so walking home once in a while was ok.

"Oh, you," I heard someone behind me and turned to see who it was. It was our new neighbor, Levi. He seemed to be coming back from school himself.

I didn't really want to have anything to do with him so I turned back around and ignored him.

"HEY!" he shouted, which scared me out of my 6-year old skin. I turned to look at him again, probably with a look of terror on my face.

"S-Sorry…" he said, much quieter, "I just uh, need to give you something. So follow me. Well, I guess you're heading in that direction anyway…"

And he was right; if we didn't live right next to each other I probably wouldn't have followed him anywhere. Once we got to his door he unlocked it and asked me to wait outside for a bit, "please" he said. Although I didn't really want to, I guess I was curious and if it was something weird or scary I would just run into my house.

Only about 20 seconds later he came back out, hiding something behind his back. I was getting ready to make a run for it but he said "this is for you" and pulled out what he was hiding.

"Whaaa! The Lance Corporal Ultimate Titan Hunter action figure!" I couldn't believe my eyes, and what's more, I couldn't believe that this guy had one of these and was giving it to ME! "Really? I can have it!?" I asked excitedly.

"Of course, I said this was for you, right?" He handed it over to me and I took it excitedly, looking over every inch of the packing.

"How did you know I wanted this!?" Was he a mind reader or something? Ultimate Titan Hunter is my favorite show and I've wanted this figure so badly, but my mother always said we didn't have enough money to buy it.

"Well, I noticed your shirt the other day," he answered.

"My shirt?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah… You were wearing an Ultimate Titan Hunter shirt the other day when you came over. So when I went out the other day I saw this and thought you might like it. I guess it's an apology for the other day too."

My jaw dropped, he noticed my shirt? And he wanted to apologize even though I was the one making the unnecessary outburst? He wasn't thinking I was just some little brat after all? This guy was actually a really great guy despite him looking so scary.

"T-Thank you so much, Levi-oniichan!" I shouted, hugging him at the waist.

"O-Oniichan…" he said under his breath but gently patted my head.

"D-Do you want to come over and play with it with me!?" I asked with a huge grin on my face.

"Well, I'm not sure if your mother would allow me too…"

"She won't mind!" I tugged at the hem of his shirt.

"I'm not so sure, though…"

"Oh! Levi, hello!" My mother had just come up the stairs and spotted us both. "Eren, you too. What a surprise to see you two together, what is that you have?"

I ran over excitedly to show my mom my new action figure; she looked a bit surprised when she saw what it was.

"Levi-oniichan got it for me!" I held up for her to see.

"O-Oh, wow! That's such a nice gift for him to give you," she looked over in Levi's direction. "I'm sure he spent a lot of money on this. Levi, are you sure about this?"

"It really wasn't a problem, Mrs. Yeager, I wanted to get it for him," and for the first time, even if it was only slight, I saw a genuine smile on his face.

"Well, if it was no trouble…"

"Mom! Can Levi-oniichan come over and play with me? Pleeease?" I asked, interrupting the conversation.

"Oh, sure, if Levi would like to?"

"I supposed I could for a little while…"

"Yay!"

My whole impression of this man completely changed that day. I got to discover that although he had a rough exterior, he was kind inside, even if he didn't know how to properly express it all the time. After that day, I saw him pretty much every day and I often went over to his apartment to play. He even offered to walk me to and from school if he had the time, which was a relief to my mom. He really became something of a brother figure to me and I grew to love him for that. He did a lot for my family and me.

Little did I know that one day when a major tragedy would strike, it would change our relationship forever.


	2. Chapter 2

"What…?" Levi didn't know what else to say, let alone have even the capacity to speak much else than that.

"We tried calling his father several times but received no answer. He insisted calling his father was useless and that we call you instead. He said you are his neighbor and family friend, yes?" the man at the other end of the phone explained.

"Yes…" Levi managed to speak once more.

"We have no other family members to contact since we have no other information regarding them, and your number was the only number he would give us," the man continued, "I suggest you come down to the hospital as soon as you can, the boy has no one else here with him. "

"Right… Thank you," Levi ended the call on the other line and stood in his kitchen in a daze from the impact of the news he had just received. Shaking himself out of this state, he quickly grabbed his wallet and left the apartment for the hospital.

* * *

Arriving at the hospital, Levi went straight to the information desk. The room was packed and the stench of a room filled with too many people lingered in the air. But Levi ignored the almost sickening smell and reached the desk.

"I'm here to see someone in emergency, ah, Yeager?"

The woman at the desk looked busy and barely gave him any notice as she tried to pick up phone lines that were ringing off the hook. She saw Levi looking angry and impatient and quickly looked through the files on her desk and told him the room number. Levi immediately made a mad dash towards the hall, scanning the numbers plates on the doors as he passed them. Not long after, he saw a young man slouching over on a bench outside the room.

"Eren!" Levi shouted and rushed over to stand in front of him.

Eren slowly lifted his head to see the man in front of him; tears welled up in his eyes. A single tear fell down his cheek and his bottom lip quivered.

"Levi…" he said in a weak voice, grabbing the man in front of him burying his face into his stomach. "Mom… she's dead," he said through sobs.

Levi wasn't sure what to say or even how to comfort Eren. He even thought of how he should handle this while taking the train here but came up with nothing. He gently placed his hand on the boy's head and stroked his hair as he allowed Eren to soak his shirt in tears. Something like this, he'd never let anyone do. But for Eren and the situation he was going through right now, he'd make an exception.

Levi was also feeling a rush of sadness and shock, not only because the usually happy, upbeat, and headstrong kid he watched grow up was now in tears, but because Carla Yeager had grown to be a close friend. He had difficulty making friends with people in college because he often came off as brash and unsocial, but Mrs. Yeager always managed to look past that. The people that did grow close to him often did so for his money. He was the son of one of the top lawyers in the entire country, and many people knew his father by name and he himself had gone in to law school and became a successful lawyer. But Mrs. Yeager never cared about his money even after she found out. In fact, if he ever bought her or her son an extravagant gift, she'd fuss at him for spending so much money on them. Levi never really got to know Grisha, Eren's dad, very well; but when they did meet on the rare occasion he'd smile kindly and thank him for always taking care of his son. Really, the only reason he stayed in that apartment even though he could afford a much nicer place was because he had grown so close to the Yeagers. He didn't want to admit it, and surely didn't show it, but it was kind of hard to hide, seeing as he could move any time he wanted to.

Levi moved aside and sat next to Eren, seeing his face again, now red and covered in tears. Levi wrapped an arm around Eren and placed his hand once again on Eren's head, placing it on the crook of his shoulder.

"Cry as much as you need to," he said quietly, patting his head once again.

Eren wrapped his arms around Levi's waist and continued to cry onto the comforting shoulder.

Levi had heard the whole story over the phone with the doctor who called him hours ago.

Carla worked in a cleaning service that often sent her quite a ways from her house. That day she was sent to a house belonging to a fairly rich couple who were away for the week. While cleaning the house, a group of robbers broke in. It was suspected that it had been related to a band of criminals that had been stirring up trouble around the area committing often violent crimes. They most likely staked out the house the past couple of days and knew it was unoccupied, but Carla had the unlucky chance they decided to break in while she was there.

No one is currently sure exactly why, but on top of robbing the house, they fatally injured Carla. The neighbors heard commotion next door and called the police but by the time they came it was too late; the criminals were gone and Carla was still alive but it didn't seem like she would make it. The hospital staff had easily found her records and made a call to Eren's school. Eren was allowed to leave and got to the hospital as fast as he could but he didn't make it in time. Despite their best efforts, doctors couldn't save her and she passed away at the hospital.

That's when staff asked Eren for any contact information of other family members when failing to reach his father and all Eren could say was to call Levi.

This would make the first known death related to these criminals if it was in fact their doing. It wasn't uncommon for them to leave people injured during their crimes as they did whatever was necessary to get what they wanted – but no one had died until now.

* * *

On the train ride home, Eren slept the entire way. There were not many people on the train that time of night so they managed to get seats, Eren propped against Levi as he slept soundly. He had pretty much exhausted himself from crying so much.

Arriving at the apartments, Levi dug for his keys and escorted a physically and mentally drained Eren through the door. He had decided that Eren would be staying with him until they could get a hold of his father. He was old enough at 16 to be able to live on his own with Levi next door, but Levi didn't think that Eren should be alone right now. Plus he thought that if Eren went back to the apartment where he grew up and saw his mother just at this morning, it might just upset his situation even more.

Levi walked Eren to the spare bedroom and helped him gently onto the bed, removing his shoes and socks.

"Levi?" Eren asked in a tired voice.

"What is it?" Levi asked.

"Nothing…" Eren lay his head down on the pillow.

"You should really get some rest. I'll go get you a change of clothes, alright?"

Eren didn't say a word and Levi left the room. He had a copy of the key to the Yeager's apartment and they had one to his; they really had been very close to each other.

Levi knocked on the door first which was a habit. He knew that no one would answer but maybe he had a little hope that it was all just a bad dream. He sighed as no one came to answer the door, but what was he expecting? Although the father that was nowhere to be seen could've possibly answered the door. Levi unlocked the door and headed straight for Eren's room to get him a change of clothes. He dug through the drawers for a shirt, pants, and some underwear. He was about to leave until he noticed the figure that had always sat atop Eren's dresser: the one he got for Eren when he was 6.

It was always nostalgic to see it, and he silently thanked it every time since it got Eren to warm up to him. It was all beat up and used by now but Eren still kept it. With one last look at it, Levi left the room and returned back to his apartment to find Eren still awake, lying in bed.

"Here, get changed and get some sleep, alright?" he said laying the clothes on the bed next to Eren. "We'll talk in the morning but right now you're exhausted and I'm sure your mind is all over the place." Levi walked towards the door. "If you need me I'll be in my room, alright? Good night, Eren," he slowly shut the door and let out a huge sigh. He really didn't know how to handle this situation. Eren seemed to stop responding to the things Levi was saying. He hoped he didn't sound too crass just then but he wasn't necessarily one to be the comforting type, even when he wanted to be.

Figuring he'd deal with everything in the morning, he prepared for bed. But not much long after he had lay down, he realized he really couldn't fall asleep. The events of the day really were a shock and his running thoughts were preventing him from relaxing even a bit. Maybe he'd even need a bit of cry just to be able to get some sleep. He had really been putting up a façade for Eren's sake but right now he didn't feel like he'd get any rest if he just kept holding everything in. Just as he thought that it'd be a rough, sleepless night he heard a light tapping on his door. He sat up in bed and answered "Yes?" and the door slowly crept open.

"Eren, is everything alright?" Levi asked, seeing the boy's silhouette at the door.

He responded in a quiet voice, "I can't sleep…"

"Do you want me to make you some hot milk or tea?" Levi was considering making some tea for himself to see if it'd help him calm down, but Eren shook his head.

"Can I… Can I sleep in bed with you?" Eren asked in an even meeker voice.

Levi was a little caught off-guard at his request. Not just because a 16-year old boy was asking to sleep in bed with an adult man, but because that was a question Eren often asked when he was a young boy. Many nights his mother would work night shifts and his father would be working overtime for his job, so Mrs. Yeager would ask if Levi could watch him for the night. Eren would often come up with the excuse of 'I'd be fine staying at home by myself, but because I get to spend time with you I don't mind'. Even if he said those tough words, he'd often come in the middle of the night to tug at Levi's sleeve and ask if he could sleep in the bed with him. Levi would just say 'no brats allowed in my bed' and ignore the kid who huffed and puffed until he eventually left to go back to the spare bedroom.

Levi never allowed Eren to sleep in his bed because sharing a bed with another individual wasn't necessarily his favorite thing in the world. It wasn't Eren in particular, but Levi was what some people would call a 'clean freak'. Just he alone sleeping in his bed caused him to change the sheets a few times a week. People would probably think him abnormal for this, but sleeping in the same bed with someone night after night sounded like an awful idea. This he never brought up in conversation, because he knew the next question would most likely be something related to his sex life. And let's just say… That's something he didn't want to discuss.

But now Eren was asking yet again to sleep in his bed that can barely fit two people. Actually, Eren probably hadn't asked that question since he was about 9. After that he either learned his lesson or just felt like he was too 'grown-up' for that. But there was no way Levi could just say 'no' now. He'd already let him rub tears, snot, and slobber on him all day, letting him sleep in his bed wasn't going to be much worse. Plus, he had just lost his mother and Levi had lost a friend. Maybe seeking comfort in each other would put them at ease.

Levi shifted over to leave room for Eren and lifted up the covers, "Come on," he said and Eren shuffled over and climbed into the bed.

"Thank you," Eren said quietly.

Levi could barely see much in the dark room but he saw a glint in Eren's eyes that were once again starting to water.

"Now go to sleep, alright?" Levi said and turned his back to Eren.

Closing his eyes, he heard and felt the bed shuffle, then a warmth push against his back. He heard Eren's shallow breaths right behind him. This was something he probably would've disliked if it were any other person at any other time but right now it was oddly comforting and Levi felt himself relaxing and growing tired. It must've comforted Eren too, because before long he had dozed off into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Levi arrived at Eren's school, it was one of his days to pick Eren up and walk him home. He never really showed it but he enjoyed those short walks with Eren. Levi would often let Eren come over to do his homework until his mother got back from work so the kid wouldn't be home alone by himself. Having Eren over was like having a little brother and it was enjoyable to have a really energetic and happy person around him. Even if kids were unnecessarily messy, and at times there were instances where it had gotten to the point where he wanted to just throw Eren out of his apartment.

Levi looked around to find Eren but was greeted by one of the school teachers.

"Hello, are you… Eren's brother? I see you pick him up once in a while," the woman was holding Eren by the hand and the boy did not look happy.

"No, I'm just his neighbor, I come to pick him up from time to time when his mother isn't able to," Levi looked down at Eren who seemed to be scowling. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well, Eren is usually well behaved but today he got into a fight with one of the other boys," the woman's face showed a bit of concern over Eren's actions.

Levi raised an eyebrow and looked back down at Eren, "Why did you fight with another kid?" He asked in a stern tone. Eren said nothing and ignored Levi's questioning.

"Ah, we aren't sure why they fought… Eren refused to tell us and the other child seemed to do the same. This is probably something I should be asking his mother, but has Eren been acting any differently at home?"

"Not really, he's been the same around me. I can ask Mrs. Yeager if you'd like me to when she returns home," Levi gave a sigh and motioned for Eren to come over to him.

"Thank you so much, mister…?"

"Just call me Levi; I'll let his mother know about today. Come on, Eren," Levi gave a brief farewell to the teacher and Eren trudged quietly next to Levi, still not saying a word.

"Eren, why did you do that?" Levi asked again.

Eren mumbled a response that Levi couldn't make out.

"Speak louder," Levi commanded.

His stern sense of seriousness frightened Eren sometimes but Eren had started to understand his way of handling situations; he just wanted to get right to the point.

"H-He made fun of my drawing and was mean to me…" he pouted with his eyes furrowed.

"Your drawing? You don't beat people up over drawings," Levi replied.

"But!" Eren shouted, stopping in his tracks and looking up at Levi teary-eyed. "He said mean things about you too!"

"Me?" Levi asked confused.

Eren took off his school bag and opened it to dig through the contents. Levi waited to see what exactly Eren was going to do to explain the situation. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Levi. What was drawn was a typical doodle a kindergartener would do. Four people-like figures stood side by side, all smiles, under a sun (which was also smiling) and holding hands.

"Th-This is nice…" Levi said what he thought Eren wanted to hear. "This is… your parents, you and…?"

"You," Eren answered, a pout still on his face.

"How did you get in a fight over this picture?" It still wasn't making any sense to Levi; there was nothing noteworthy about this drawing to cause a fight.

"Because… We drew pictures of our families today and Armin asked who you were in the picture and I told him it was Levi-oniichan. He asked why you were in the picture and I said because I was going to marry you one day…"

Levi's eyes widened at Eren's explanation but didn't say a word and let him continue his story.

"The kid next to me said that two guys can't get married and that its gross. I told him that wasn't true but he said it was and started calling me names and kept saying we could never get married so I punched him! He deserved it! He was a wimp and didn't fight back and I only punched him once! I told him he couldn't say that ever again and he just started crying for the teacher and got me in trouble." Eren had a bit of anger in his eyes, tears still welling up.

Levi let out a long sigh and rubbed at his temple trying to just figure out how he was going to respond to this story. It's never really that surprising for young kids to say that they want to 'marry' people they look up to. Hell, half the time the person they want to 'marry' is one of their parents. It wasn't too common, though, for a kid to want to 'marry' someone of the same gender.

"Look, Eren, I know he was making you angry but you should've just ignored him or gotten one of the teachers and told them he was being mean to you. You shouldn't resort to violence unless it's necessary." The most important thing, he supposed, was to tell Eren that starting fights just because he got a little mad at them wasn't the proper way to handle an argument.

Eren remained quiet for a moment, "Why can't I marry you, Levi-oniichan?" Eren asked in a soft voice, looking away from Levi. Tears started to fall down his cheeks.

"Is that why you're upset? Not because of the name calling?" Levi crouched down to Eren's level.

Eren simply nodded and sniffled, wiping the tears away with the sleeve of his shirt.

 _'What am I going to do with this kid?'_ Levi thought to himself. In the end it was nothing more than puppy love and Eren would grow out of it. Kids at this age don't understand something complicated like love and think that it and admiration are the same thing. It wasn't anything to get mad at Eren over; Levi knew that for a fact.

"Eren, of course you can't marry me, you're way too young."

"I know that! I meant whenever I get older and get a job and stuff…" Eren finally looked in Levi's direction and gave another sniffle.

"Well, whenever you grow up you can ask me to marry you then," Levi said, thinking that would be enough to make Eren happy. He felt a tiny bit guilty that he was pretty much lying to the kid, though, let alone the fact that two men can't get married in Japan in the first place.

"Really?" Eren looked a little hopeful. "When do I grow up?"

"Well, you become a legal adult at 18 but being an actual adult depends on how you act. So no more unnecessary fights, ok?"

Eren gave a warm smile and nodded his head, "I won't fight anymore, I promise! And when I'm 18 we can get married!" Eren leaned in and gave Levi a light kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, hey, we aren't married yet, you can't kiss me like that," Levi gave Eren a small bop on the head.

"I'm sorry, mommy always gives me a kiss on the cheek before I go to school so I thought I could do the same for you…" Eren gave a little bit of a sad look and rubbed his head but it was obvious that he was feeling much better.

_'See? He just gave me the same kind of kiss his mother gives him, so this feeling he has is the same kind he has for his mother. He'll definitely grow out of it soon so for now I guess I'll just let him be in ignorant bliss.'_

"Whatever, brat. Come on, let's head home," Levi stood up and took ahold of the Eren's hand and walked back to the apartment.

* * *

Levi opened his eyes to find that it was morning already.

 _'A dream, huh? Hard to believe that happened so long ago…'_ Levi rubbed his eyes and looked over on the bed next to him. _'Can't believe that brat is this big now,'_ Eren's sleeping face looked a lot more relaxed after yesterday's events. It must've completely drained him because he didn't look like he was going to wake up any time soon. It was probably for the best for him to sleep as much as he could anyway.

Levi got out of the bed as quietly as possible, grabbed a change of clothes, and headed towards the bathroom. Letting the water of the shower pour over him, Levi let out a long breath and tried to think of what exactly he should do from now on. Trying to get ahold of Eren's father was one of his top priorities. Levi didn't mind taking Eren in for however long he needed to, but it's not like he was his legal guardian and obviously Mr. Yeager should've been the first to hear the news about his wife. Levi knew that Mr. Yeager was a busy man, but where could he be at such a crucial time? Levi also knew that Eren would probably still be shaken about everything so in the meantime he had to do his best to take care of him.

After getting out of the shower and getting dressed, Levi headed towards his kitchen to cook something for breakfast. He had learned to cook quiet well since he had lived alone for so long. Carla had also taught him many things whenever she had the time. It was surreal for him to think that he would never see her again. He knew he had to push the grief out of his mind if only to be a strong support for Eren.

"Levi?" A worried voice came from the bedroom and soon Eren was standing in the doorway of the room.

"Oh, you're awake. I'm making something to eat so you can go ahead and sit down and when I'm done we can talk," Levi turned around to see Eren looking a little anxious.

Eren didn't respond and instead walked into the kitchen and stood beside Levi at the stove.

"I got kind of scared when I realized you weren't in the bed," Eren said softly.

"I didn't want to wake you, sorry," Levi replied, starting to plate the food.

"As long as you're ok…" Eren had a forlorn look on his face and stared at a blank space of the wall in the kitchen.

Levi firmly gripped Eren's shoulder which got his attention. His eyes were baggy and even though he slept so long, it didn't look like he slept at all.

"I'll stay with you, alright? I won't be leaving any time soon," Levi assured Eren looking him straight in the eye.

"Alright," Eren gave a weak smile.

The two headed over to the table and ate their meal mostly in silence. Eren wasn't eating very much until Levi urged him to at least try to eat as much as he could.

Levi really didn't want to bring up the subject but he knew it was weighing heavily on both of their minds. Plus it was necessary to think of a plan of what they should do next.

"I'm going to call your father after we eat. I left him a note on the table to call me when he got home but I haven't gotten one yet so I'm assuming he didn't come home last night. We could also go over just to make sure."

"I want to go over and grab some things anyway," Eren said. It almost seemed like he wasn't counting on his father coming home any time soon.

"Alright, that's fine," it was better than going back and forth for stuff; Levi figured he'd help Eren pack some things. "And about school, I think you should take off for a while. I'll call the school today to let them know."

"It's fine, I can start going back tomorrow."

"No, I think you should take some time off," Levi was surprised to hear Eren say he wanted to return to school so soon.

"My mom wouldn't want me to miss so much school," Eren's gaze remained downward.

Levi paused for a moment, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind you taking just a few days off in this situation. Plus there are… arrangements we should make."

"Ah… What are we going to do… with mom… her body…" Eren tensed up.

"I'll try to work something out with your father. Even if I can't reach him I'll make funeral arrangements myself," Levi kind of wanted to avoid talking so suddenly about this subject, but the body probably did need to get cremated as soon as possible.

Eren hastily lifted his head from his daze, "I-I can't let you pay for all of that-"

"Eren," Levi interrupted, "Your mother was important to me too, it's the least I can do."

"I'll find a way to pay you back…" Eren's face looked helpless. The only thing that was running through his mind at this point was probably how useless he was feeling about not being able to do anything for his mother's death.

"Eren, that isn't necessary," Levi said firmly. "We're going to get through this and I'll do everything I can because you're important to me, alright?"

Eren's face hardened as he tried to hold back his tears but it was futile. He held his face in his hands and quietly sobbed.

"I miss mom so much…"

Levi got up and walked over to Eren, putting an arm around his shoulder.

"I know you do," he said quietly, patting Eren's arm.

Levi stood there for a good while, comforting Eren until his sobs subsided.

"Are you feeling a little better?" He asked as Eren wiped the last of his tears away. Eren just gave a small nod.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door that caused Eren to jump slightly.

"I'll go see who that is, if you can't eat any more food just throw it away," Levi left Eren's side to go answer the door that someone was still knocking at. Levi was expecting to see Eren's father but came face to face with a girl with a distraught look.

"Where is Eren?" she asked in desperation.

"He's here," Levi pointed towards the table Eren was sitting at.

"Eren!" She shouted and ran into the apartment without asking Levi and not even taking her shoes off.

"Mikasa?" Eren looked surprised as she ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

"Eren, I was so worried," she squeezed him tight and buried her face in his hair. "I tried calling you so many times but you never answered. Then I tried knocking on your door but no one was home so all I could think of was to come over here. Thank goodness…"

"M-Mikasa, you're squeezing me too tight…" Eren managed to mumble under Mikasa's death grip.

"Ah, sorry," she apologized and let go quickly. She gasped, "Your eyes are so red…"

Mikasa was one of Eren's childhood friends. They met during elementary school and she's been attached to his hip since – and on the other hip was Armin, a kid Eren knew even before Levi. Mikasa was definitely protective over Eren and it seemed to prevent many other people from getting close to him. She and Levi didn't necessarily have the best relationship – she seemed to always make some kind of unnecessary competition over Eren's attention. She kept Eren out of trouble, though, so Levi didn't particularly have a problem with her. Armin was a lot more docile on the other hand.

"Ahem," Levi spoke up, "I know you are worried about Eren but can you please remove your shoes at least?" Levi would've probably kicked most people out by now if they came through his apartment, uninvited, with their shoes still on.

"Sorry," Mikasa said bluntly and started taking her shoes off.

"And shouldn't you be at school? It's the middle of the day," Levi asked.

"Finding Eren was more important," she replied and sat down next to Eren.

Levi sighed and knew she was set in her ways.

"Eren, I'm going to go call your father, I'll let you talk with Mikasa."

Levi left the room realizing that Eren probably hadn't gotten ahold of anyone else since yesterday. He was called out during school so she must've known something was wrong when he left early. Levi went into his bedroom, locked the door and dialed Eren's father on his phone. The phone rang and rang until the answering machine picked up.

 _'Damn, still not picking up. Where the hell is he?'_ he thought to himself.

The machine beeped and Levi left his message.

"Hello, Mr. Yeager, this is Levi. I'm not sure if you've heard any news but there's something very important we need to discuss. Please call me back as soon as you can, thank you," Levi ended the call and sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Mr. Yeager was known to work long shifts and be away for one or two days at a time, but it was really inconvenient for him to be gone at a time like this. There was not much else Levi could do but allow Eren to stay at his apartment. Eren could very well just go back next door but Levi didn't necessarily feel comfortable with doing that. At least not yet. Levi tried calling a few more times but to no avail – the calls went unanswered.

Giving up, Levi opened the door to his bedroom and walked back to the living room where Mikasa walked up to him as soon as she saw him.

"Excuse me, I know you are doing your best to take care of Eren but I think he should come home with me," she said definitively, not batting a lash.

"Mikasa…" Eren said meekly from his chair.

"No offense, but given the situation Eren is in, he shouldn't be living with a single man with a full-time job, and neither have you ever raised a child. Eren is in distress right now and I think he would be better staying with me," she ignored Eren's remark and continued.

"H-Hold on…" Levi suddenly getting hit with this bold declaration was a little overwhelming. "Who said anything about Eren living with anyone? He's just staying until his father gets back."

"I talked with Eren and he told me about what happened and Eren said he didn't think his father was going to be coming back," she replied.

"Mikasa," Eren said her name again.

"Is that really what you think?" Levi looked over in Eren's direction.

"Kind of…" he replied softly, "I just have a feeling he's not coming back. He's always been absorbed in his work and lately he's been gone all the time. I bet you didn't even get a hold of him when you called, did you?"

"No, I didn't… But that doesn't mean he's not coming back," Levi didn't want to admit that what Eren was saying could be plausible.

"Whether he does or doesn't come back I think Eren should still stay with me in the meantime," Mikasa interjected.

"Mikasa, I'm fine here…" Eren said.

"But it'll just be the two of you and Levi has his own life. With me you'll have me and my parents."

"I have no issues with keeping Eren here, he's next to his apartment if he ever needs anything from it and I am financially stable enough to support another person. But if Eren would rather go with you, I can't really stop him," Levi felt a lot more comfortable with Eren staying with him but it was true that Mikasa had parents of her own that could take care of Eren.

Both of them looked over in Eren's direction awaiting his answer. It was kind of scary since Levi and Mikasa were both very intimidating people.

"I… I want to stay with Levi. Sorry, Mikasa," Eren did seem genuinely sorry about it.

"Are you sure?" Mikasa asked and Eren gave her a nod. She remained silent for a while, "Fine, but you can move in with me at any time."

"Thanks," Eren gave a gentle smile.

"You can come over any time you like if you feel the need. As long as it isn't at some ridiculous hour and you take your shoes off at the door," Levi added.

"I plan to," Mikasa said brusquely and headed towards the entrance of the apartment, putting her shoes back on. Before walking out she turned around, "Eren, call Armin. He's worried too," and with that she left.

"Sorry about that," Eren spoke from behind Levi.

"It's alright, I know she was just worried about you," Levi walked over to Eren. "I think you should call up your friends and tell them your situation though, before any more of them barge into the apartment."

"Good idea…" Eren knew Armin wouldn't do something like that but he knew he was probably still just as worried.

"When you're done we can go over and pack up some of your things. While you make your calls I'll call your school and my work."

"Sorry for causing all this trouble…" Eren said quietly.

"Please don't think you are causing me any trouble. I'm doing this because I want to."

"Alright," Eren gave another meek smile and Levi went back to his bedroom to make his calls.

* * *

"Do you think you have everything you'll need?" Levi asked after returning from the bathroom to get Eren's toothbrush. Eren was sitting on the floor of his bedroom, putting some clothes and other essentials into a bag.

"Yeah, I'm not too worried about the clothes since I can always come over and get more, but I have the things I need for day-to-day stuff." Eren zipped up his bag and stood up; giving the room a glance over to make sure he had everything. "It's kind of like I'm just going over for a sleepover or something," he had a forlorn look on his face.

Levi walked over to grab the bag out of Eren's hand. "Don't worry, everything will be alright," he assured and Eren gave him a smile and a nod.

Levi walked towards the entrance of the room and heard Eren say, "Ah, I almost forgot." He turned around to see Eren grabbing the action figure he had given him when he as a child.

"You're taking that too?" Levi asked.

"Yeah, it's kind of silly but it makes me feel better to have it with me," Eren looked down at the figure, moving one of its arms up and down.

The two returned to Levi's apartment and unpacked Eren's stuff in the spare bedroom. Eren set the action figure on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Armin… I think he wants to come over tomorrow, is that ok?" Eren asked.

"It's fine. Both him and Mikasa are allowed to come over whenever you want," Levi was in the middle of putting Eren's clothes in the dresser.

Levi didn't really enjoy having guests over but having Eren's friends visit him could be helpful for Eren dealing with the pain of his loss.

"You seem to be doing better after Mikasa came to visit," Levi said.

"Oh, yeah, Mikasa is a little overbearing at times but it was nice to see her," Eren replied and sat down on the bed.

Levi finished up unpacking Eren's things and sat down on the bed next to him. "Why didn't you want to go stay with her? In a way, I think she was right, it might've been best for you to go with her."

Eren remained silent for a moment, "Would you have preferred I go with her?"

"Not particularly. I'm a little selfish and would prefer you to stay with me, but her family could probably do a better job than I could," Levi probably would've driven himself crazy with worry about Eren if he went to go live somewhere else, even if he trusted Mikasa's family.

"I was serious when I said I wanted to stay with you," Eren said. "You're the closest thing I have to family. I love Mikasa but I didn't want to be separated from you – I've seen you almost every day since I was six-years old." Eren blushed slightly.

Levi ruffled Eren's hair and brought him into a hug, "You're like my family too, brat. That's why you should stop feeling so guilty about me taking you in." Eren gave a small laugh.

Levi definitely wasn't this affectionate with anyone else. He wasn't a fan of physical contact, but with Eren, for some reason it was fine. Maybe it was because Eren had grown up and was no longer that messy, young boy anymore. Or maybe it was because he had grown so close to him that he considered him family.

"I'm going to catch them," they had been sitting in silence for a while until Eren spoke up.

"Catch who?" Levi looked at Eren's face, his brows were furrowed and his mouth was in a slight scowl.

"The guys who did that to my mother," Eren said in a threatening tone. "I'm going to make them pay."

"Eren, I'm sure the police will catch them soon-"

"They haven't caught them yet! My mother was the first but there's going to be others!" Eren shouted.

Levi gave Eren a worried look. Of course he would want to take revenge on the people who killed his mother, but Eren looked scarily determined to do so. This group was no joke, they were professionals and a 16-year old boy was no threat to them.

"I'll find them…" Eren mumbled under his breath.

"And what will you do when you find them? How will you find them?" Levi asked.

Eren looked up at Levi. It was obvious that he didn't know what he would do if he somehow did manage to find the people that did this.

"I'll… I'll… become a cop or something," Eren said, "I'll do a much better job than they're doing so far. Or…" Eren paused, "I'll become a lawyer like you. I'll put them away for life and give them the capital punishment myself."

Eren looked absolutely angry. Levi was at a loss of what to do; he had never seen Eren look like this before.

"Eren, I think you need to calm down," he said sternly. Eren wasn't emotionally stable after all.

"Y-You're right. Maybe…" Eren looked back over to Levi, "I'm serious about wanting to catch them though. I will do it," he said with determination.

Levi didn't say a word and stood up from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Eren asked in a much calmer voice.

"I need to call the hospital," Levi said.

Eren knew exactly why, "Alright…"

Levi turned around before leaving the room, "I know you're angry, I am too. But right now I need you to focus on yourself, alright?"

"Yes sir," Eren nodded.

After Levi left the room Eren flopped down on the bed where Levi was sitting only moments ago.

"It's still warm," he said under his breath. He was still tired even after getting a full night's rest. Losing a family member must really drain you of all your energy. Eren remained lying on the bed, frustration and sadness and anger took a toll on him and he slowly nodded off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"What's this?" a 9-year old Eren handed Levi a rather cutely crafted pink and white box wrapped in a red bow.

Levi was busy sorting through some papers for an upcoming court case at home when he heard a knock at the door. Apparently it was Eren coming over to deliver this present.

"I-It's a Valentine's Day present obviously!" Eren said mater-of-factly. He tried acting cool but that wasn't hiding the blush on his face.

"Are you sure you don't want to give this to Mikasa?" Levi adjusted the glasses he was wearing and took a closer looking at the box. It was way too cute for a man.

"N-No, Mikasa gave me chocolate today though, but I wanted to give you one…" Eren scuffed his shoe across the pavement.

"That's right, aren't girls supposed to be giving boys chocolate for Valentine's Day? You aren't a girl," Levi added.

"I know that! It's just… neither are you so I figured it didn't matter if it was two guys," Eren looked a little upset over the fact that Levi didn't seem to be happy with his present.

Levi sighed but noticed the face of dissatisfaction Eren was making. He unwrapped the bow and took the lid off of the box, carefully taking out a chocolate and taking a bite.

"It's good," he said after swallowing. He wasn't a big fan of chocolate but it was pretty tasty.

"Really!?" Eren shouted and his face instantly lit up.

Levi couldn't help but smirk a little, "Yeah, thank you for these," he patted Eren on the head.

Eren seemed to be pretty excited about Levi's praise and quickly said a goodbye and ran back next to his apartment.

Levi let out a short laugh to himself and shut the door. He was about to walk back to his desk to continue his work but noticed a piece of paper flutter down to the floor from the box he was holding. He picked it up – it seemed to be a crudely cut-out paper heart, there were words written on it that said: "To my Valentine, Levi".

Levi's mouth cocked to the side in amusement.

Exactly a month later, Levi was walking Eren home from Elementary school since Mrs. Yeager had asked him to pick Eren up all that week. Eren seemed a little anxious during the whole walk and it was kind of grating on Levi's nerves.

"What are you so jumpy and skittish for?" Levi finally asked, causing Eren to jump a bit.

"Ah, um, it's nothing…" he trailed off.

"It has to be something," Levi didn't buy the lie.

Eren didn't reply right away, "D-Do you know what day it is?"

"Hm? It's… March 14th, right? What about it?"

"Um, nevermind…" Eren hung his head and his mood seemed to have changed but not for the better. Now he was sulking.

"Whatever, if you don't want to tell me I won't waste my time," Levi wasn't one to play guessing games even with Eren. "Oh, your birthday is soon though, right?"

"Yeah…" Eren mumbled.

Okay, that obviously wasn't what it was. Whatever, he didn't want to worry over something a 9-year old has problems with.

Later that day there was a knock at Levi's door.

"Oh, Mrs. Yeager, good evening. Would you like something to drink?" she must've gotten home from work not too long ago, he invited her in.

"Hello, Levi. Its fine, I don't need anything. But thank you again for walking Eren home this week," she said with a kind smile.

"It's really no problem at all, by now it seems like a regular part of my life," Levi replied. It was true, after about three years he had gotten as close as family to the Yeagers.

"Actually, I wanted to talk about Eren's behavior today, was he acting strange when you picked him up?"

"Yeah he was, he seemed a little jumpy but after I asked what was wrong he got kind of mopey."

"Ahh, I see. He was still acting like that when I got home a little while ago," she gave a concerned look. "I asked what was wrong and he said that he didn't receive a White Day present in response for his Valentine's present."

"Oh… Today is White Day…" Levi mumbled to himself. It had totally slipped his mind. He hadn't concerned himself with either of the holidays for so long he almost forgot they existed.

Mrs. Yeager gave a small laugh, "I figured he was talking about you, what other boy would be the one giving chocolate on Valentine's Day?"

"So you knew that he gave me some?" Levi asked.

"Oh, of course! In fact, I helped him make it. He came up to me the night before begging me to help him make some chocolate. I thought it was strange since it's usually girls who give chocolate for Valentine's Day but he said it was for you. So I helped him and he seemed so proud of himself; after he gave the chocolate to you he came home with the widest grin saying that you liked it," Mrs. Yeager giggled after re-counting the story.

All Levi could think was 'what an embarrassing kid'.

"So, I don't want you to feel obligated but, maybe you could get Eren a little something? Even if it's some cheap store-bought chocolates I'm sure it'd cheer him right up."

"You don't have a problem with me giving Eren a White Day present…?" Although Eren is upset it was still a grown man giving a 9-year old kid a gift on a romantic holiday.

"Of course I don't! I know Eren just looks up to you so much. People besides lovers can give chocolates on this day too, that's why I didn't have an issue with helping Eren make his chocolate," she gave a reassuring smile.

Levi nodded, "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

Mrs. Yeager seemed happy and after she left Levi stood in his kitchen wondering what to do. Levi had no clue that Eren actually made those chocolates he got. They didn't seem homemade, especially by a kid. Of course, his mother probably helped a lot but the fact that Eren put a lot of effort and thought into it was… Well, it was pretty cute, Levi had to admit. Eren was one of those kids that if he had a goal, no matter how small, he would put 100% of his effort into accomplishing it. That was a pretty rare trait to find in kids these days.

"That kid makes me do things that I wouldn't do for anyone else, I swear," Levi grumbled to himself, grabbing his wallet and his keys off the counter and heading out the door.

The next morning, Levi headed over to the Yeager's apartment.

"Oh! Levi, you're up early this morning," Mrs. Yeager seemed to be surprised to see him.

"Good morning, uh, I have something for Eren…" Levi already felt really embarrassed.

He was going to give the chocolates to Eren after he got home from school but he figured Eren would probably still be in a sour mood and he didn't want him to be like that all day during his classes.

Mrs. Yeager knew exactly what Levi was there for and called out to her son, "Eren! There's someone here for you!"

Moments later, a still sulky (as expected) Eren made his way to the door. Once he noticed Levi was standing there he looked a little shocked.

"Hey Eren, I got something for you," Levi held out a plain white box. Eren took the box with a curious look on his face. "Sorry it's a day late…" Levi scratched the back of his head.

At that moment Eren seemed to catch on to what Levi was there for and he quickly opened up the box to see the contents.

"Ah!" He looked up to his mother, "Can I eat one now!?" He asked in excitement.

His mother giggled, "I'll let you for today," she was pretty strict on when Eren could eat sweets but she couldn't bring herself to deny him at that moment.

Eren quickly picked up a chocolate and popped it in his mouth. After a few chews he walked up to Levi and hugged him around his waist.

"Thank you!" He looked up with a smile full of chocolate in his teeth.

Levi gave a short laugh and patted Eren on the head, "Swallow all of your food before you speak."

Eren seemed to be a lot happier now that he had gotten his White Day present and his mother silently thanked Levi as they walked back into the apartment so Eren could finish getting ready for school.

Levi, on the other hand, returned to his apartment and flopped right on his bed in exhaustion. He was up later than he thought he would be making the chocolate for Eren – who knew making it would be so difficult? And it made a complete mess so of course he had to clean it up the moment he was finished. Not only that, he had to wake up early to make sure to give it to Eren before he went off to school. Levi was more than thankful that he didn't have to go into the office today and figured he'd get some paperwork done after a nap.

Levi didn't really consider that Eren would give him a Valentine's gift next year but when the next year came, Eren again gave him a present. So of course, Levi didn't want a repeat of the previous year and made sure to prepare a White Day gift. Levi was sure that Eren wouldn't do it for many more years, he'd definitely find a girl and he'd be the one getting Valentine's chocolates. Then the next year came, and the next…

Well, let's just say, since then, Eren never missed a single Valentine's Day.

"Ow!" Eren quickly stuck his finger in his mouth after accidentally splashing a bit of melting chocolate on it from the hot pan he was standing over.

"Do you really need to be making that?" Levi said from behind him as he walked into the kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge.

"Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day," Eren gave a timid smile and continued stirring the melting chocolate in the pan.

"You really don't have to do this every year, you know. In fact, I'm not sure why you keep doing it," Levi leaned up against the counter and watched Eren.

"Why else do people make Valentine's chocolates? So they can get White Day chocolates from the person they gave their Valentine's chocolates to," Eren lowered the temperature on the stove.

"I know that of course," Levi grumbled, "I mean, you always make those chocolates for me. I just don't feel it's necessary."

Eren's face dropped, if only a little, "Well, I like getting your White Day chocolates." He gave a slight smile.

Levi straightened himself up and started walking out of the kitchen, "You're 17 already, you should be _giving_ White Day chocolates by now."

"I give them to Mikasa," Eren shouted from the kitchen.

"She doesn't count, you brat," Levi mumbled under his breath.

It had been a little over a year since Eren started living with Levi. After his mother died, his father went missing and to this day no one had discovered where he had gone to and was placed on the missing person's list. It took a while for Eren to really cope with all that was going on so suddenly, but having Levi there did a lot to help him through it. His legal residence was now at Levi's apartment and he was fully moved in. Most of his mother's stuff had to be sold or gotten rid of but Eren kept a few things of hers. As for his father's things, Levi agreed to store most of it. Neither Eren nor Levi had really given up on trying to find him.

Eren had begged and begged for Levi to teach him things about law and he finally gave in. Now Eren was taking extra classes on top of his regular school work to become a lawyer. He was a surprisingly bright student and seemed to be dedicated to learning about law. Levi even let Eren help some with his court cases as long as he didn't breach client's privacy.

It was surprisingly… pleasant to live with Eren. The amount he matured in just over a year was admirable. I guess that's what happens to a kid when his mother dies and his father goes missing on the same day. Levi never thought it would be nice to have someone else living in the house with him – he figured the other person would either get fed up with his high cleanliness standards or just stress him out with their messiness. But Eren was always good about cleaning up after himself and even abided by Levi's compulsive cleaning whims. He was a good kid, his mother raised him well.

Levi sat himself on the couch of his living room and picked up some documents on the coffee table. They were documents for an upcoming case and he needed to make sure his evidence was prepared. Eren came out into the living room moments later and sat down on the couch next to him.

"Hahh, I'm done. Now they just have to cool overnight," Eren leaned his head back and turned his neck to see what Levi was doing.

"Is your court date soon?" Eren asked.

"Yeah," Levi replied, not taking his eyes off the papers in his hands.

"Is that the assault case?"

"Mhm."

"I can't believe you're on the defense side for this one…" Eren mumbled and faced his head forward.

"I have reasons to believe my client is innocent," Levi shuffled the papers in his hands.

"Well, you are one of the best lawyers in Japan so I hope you're right," Eren stretched his arms, "At least you don't have a murder case right now like Mr. Smith does."

"Erwin does surprisingly well with murder cases," Levi replied.

Levi and a friend he had since law school, Erwin Smith, recently started their own law firm. This meant a better income which was beneficial since now Levi had a whole separate person to take care of, but it also meant a lot more work. Eren had also gotten to know Erwin since he often got to do menial tasks and apprentice-type work at the office.

"I like it better when you do cases on the prosecution side," Eren stared up at the ceiling, "Criminals who do terrible things to people should get what they deserve."

Levi looked over at Eren to see a scowl forming on his face. Eren was this bright, positive kid but once in a while this dark side would come out of him.

"Eren," Levi said firmly which seemed to snap him out of his thoughts. "I told you that if you want to be a lawyer you can't bring your personal feelings into it. Even if your job is to be a prosecutor."

Eren's face softened a bit, "Y-Yeah I know, sorry…" He lifted himself up off the couch, "I'm going to go get ready for bed."

Levi had to watch when Eren got like that sometimes. A lot of times the trigger had to do with his mother's death. It was especially dangerous since Levi knew that Eren wanted to get into law all because of it. But Eren was already so good at it and so determined that Levi knew that one day he could be an amazing lawyer. He just needed to work on setting aside his personal issues even if they drove him to pick it up as a career in the first place.

* * *

The next morning, Levi wasn't awake for even five minutes when Eren knocked on the door of his room.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Eren said with a big grin, holding out a neatly wrapped box.

"You can't even wait until I get my shower…" Levi mumbled, scratching his head.

"Well, by the time you get out I'll be on my way to school and I didn't want to wait until later today so…" Eren said nervously.

Levi looked up at Eren and back down to the box, reaching out a hand to take it and set it down on his dresser.

"Thank you…" he said in a quiet voice.

Eren didn't move from where he was and just kind of stood there awkwardly.

"Uh, is there something else?" Levi asked.

"I-I was thinking… this year we could… finally…" Eren fidgeted in place with a blush on his cheeks.

"No," Levi said sternly and pushed Eren out of the way and headed towards the bathroom.

"Why not!?" Eren called out after him.

"I'm not kissing you! Go find a girlfriend!" Levi shouted, opening the door.

"You say that every year!" Eren whined.

"Go to school!" Levi slammed the door in Eren's face.

He heard a groan on the other side of the door and defeated footsteps gradually getting further away. Levi let out a huge sigh and put his hand up to his forehead.

Levi had always thought that Eren was joking when he said he 'liked' him. Of course when he was six, his idea of 'like' was admiration. Levi thought he would grow out of it, but he grew older and still said it. Then Levi figured it was just kind of a weird puberty thing and Eren would end up falling for a girl one day and Levi would be a thing of the past. And then at 14, right before he turned 15, on Valentine's Day at that, Eren had asked Levi for the first time if he could kiss him. Levi was puzzled at this question; what kind of joke is this? But Eren had a look as serious as the lobster-red color on his face.

That's when Levi realized this kid really did like him. Of course he turned him down, and did so every time Eren asked something like that which included, 'will you go out with me?' Levi almost regretted all those times when Eren was young that he'd allow Eren to think that they'd get 'married' one day. Could that be the reason that even to this day Eren was harboring these feelings for him? Levi thought that after the death of his mother he had somehow matured and forgotten pursuing him since it stopped for a while after that, but after Eren seemed to have adjusted to living in his new setting the advances continued.

Levi shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. This was literally his only issue with Eren so it shouldn't bother him so much. He couldn't concern himself with the hormones of a high school kid when he needed to get himself clean and get to work.

Later that day, Eren returned home after class with a big box in his hands.

"Jeeze, Mikasa really over-did it this year," he set the box down with a thud on the coffee table in front of Levi in the living room.

"Her Valentine's present this year?" Levi knew Mikasa was the only person who'd give Eren a Valentine's gift this over the top.

"Yeah, a bunch of chocolates, a bear, a card… I'm not even sure what else," Eren opened up the lid and a few flakes of glitter fell over the table. Levi's eyebrow twitched. "Don't worry, I'll clean it up," Eren said, fully knowing what Levi was thinking.

Levi just watched as Eren pulled out thing after thing in the box. It was kind of surprising how much she managed to fit in there.

"Hey, Eren," Levi spoke up as Eren pulled the last thing out, "Why don't you go out with Mikasa?"

Eren froze in place and looked over at Levi, "I don't like her like that, I've told you that before," he sat himself down.

"But she obviously likes you," Levi pointed at all the gifts sitting on the table with his eyes, "You can't at least try dating her?"

Eren let out a frustrated sigh, "I'm not going to date someone I don't have feelings for," Eren fidgeted with the little stuffed bear he found in the box. "I think Mikasa knows that in the back of her mind but I think it makes her happy to do things like this for me once in a while. And she's one of my best friends so I don't want to screw it up by dating her with me having no feelings behind it." Eren looked up and gave a weak smile. "The one I like is you."

Levi thought that maybe Eren and Mikasa were similar in the fact that they were in love with a person who wasn't reciprocating their feelings. He probably understood what she was going through so he probably sympathized for her.

"Then what about Armin?" Levi asked.

Eren gave a confused look, "Huh?"

"If you like guys, how about you date Armin?" Levi asked as if that was a plausible solution.

"N-No! I don't like him like that either!" Eren shook his head, "I-It's not a matter of guys or girls it's just… You're the one I happen to like."

Although Levi always denied Eren's advances, he really couldn't get mad at him for it. A person couldn't help who they fell in love with so it wasn't anything to scold him for.

"Tsk," Levi turned his head away, "I don't know why you like an old guy like me."

"I don't know either," Eren simply said.

"Huh?" Levi turned his head back around to look Eren in the eyes. "You spend all of these years ogling over me and you don't even know why?"

Eren gave a light laugh, "Yeah. I mean, isn't that what love is? You don't like a person for any specific reason; you just love them because they're them?" Eren smiled.

Levi scowled, "You're such a sappy brat," he reached out and roughly rubbed Eren's head.

"Ah, hey!" Eren protested.

Levi got up off the couch, "Go do your homework and make sure you clean up this mess."

Eren nodded with a chuckle.


	5. Chapter 5

Eren couldn't quite pinpoint the moment he realized his feelings for Levi were changing from 'cool big brother' to 'guy I'm in love with'. It kind of just… happened. The days where he'd catch himself staring at Levi with a different kind of look in his eyes were increasing. Next thing he knew, he desired to be touched by him – and not in the innocent way Levi would always ruffle his hair when Eren did or said something silly. Eren also noticed that his body started to react whenever Levi was on his mind too much.

Thinking too much about Levi was dangerous. Very dangerous. Of course, 'thinking about him' meant the way he looked after a hot shower, the flexing of his muscles whenever he did his daily workouts with the sweat dripping down the nape of his neck, even just him sitting at his desk looking stoic in his glasses as he concentrated on his work. Eren couldn't help but find it exciting sometimes. He felt guilty, he really did, but he couldn't help it. His only place to take care of it was in the shower. It guaranteed a mess-free solution.

"Nn…" Eren could feel himself reaching his climax as he braced himself against the walls of the shower.

A few more strokes and release came quickly.

"Ah, Levi, mm…" Eren covered his mouth with his free hand as the stroking of his other hand slowly subsided.

Coming down from his high, he silently apologized to Levi in his head for using him as his jerk-off material like he always did.

Finishing up his shower, Eren wrapped a towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom to see Levi sitting on the sofa sipping his tea and reading the paper.

"Ah! Uh, you're awake early…" Eren was surprised to see him sitting there and was a little nervous wondering if he heard him in the shower.

"Yeah, I have to go to the office early this morning," Levi turned his gaze towards Eren. "Oh, your body is looking pretty fit lately. Not bad." He tried to hide a smirk by taking another sip of his tea. It was cruel but sometimes it was fun to tease Eren.

"Eh? Really?" Eren turned a shade of pink and looked down at his body.

"Sure. Now go get changed and don't stand there naked in my living room, it's weird," Levi went back to reading his paper.

"Ah! Y-Yes!" Eren scuffled towards his room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

"Hey, Eren, you're always spacing out lately, what's up?"

Eren slowly turned his head towards his friend, Jean, "Huh…?"

"Tsk, see? Like right now, you're totally ignoring all of us," Jean grumbled and took a bite of his sandwich.

It was lunch break and as usual, Eren sat with his friends Armin, Mikasa, and Jean.

"Ah, sorry, just a lot's on my mind…" Eren pushed the rice in his bento.

"Did something happen with you and Levi?" Armin asked in a kind voice.

"N-No it's not that…" he lied.

"That guy again? What, are you in love with him or something?" Jean scoffed.

"Sh-Shut up, Jean!" Eren blushed and shot a glare at him.

"Well if you keep acting so gaga over him you're gonna end up looking like Reiner and Bert," Jean glanced behind him to where the two said guys were sitting as usual along with Annie.

"Are they really together? I thought Bertholdt liked Annie… Or was it Reiner who likes Annie?" Eren pondered to himself.

"If they aren't they might as well be. They're always together even without Annie. Hell, they even go to the bathroom together. That's damn fishy," Jean finished up his sandwich.

"Psh, you could say the same thing about you and Marco, you won't even let him walk home by himself even though he's a year older than you," Eren grumbled.

"H-Hey! Marco and I are j-just friends," Jean's face got unnecessarily red. "B-Besides the one I like is Mikasa."

Mikasa just gave an audible 'hmph' at that and continued to eat her lunch. Jean groaned as he once again got ignored.

"What is bothering you though?" Armin spoke up again.

"Ah, it's nothing, really! I think I'm just not getting enough sleep or something…"

Eren didn't want to admit that it really was Levi that was occupying his mind. Nothing necessarily happened between them, (although he kept playing 'your body is looking pretty fit lately' over and over again in his head) it's just that sometimes Eren would catch himself daydreaming about him often. Especially like this morning… Eren felt like he had to 'take care of himself' more and more often and it was kind of driving him nuts. He cursed his young, teenage body for reacting over every little thing.

Not only that, but White Day and his birthday were coming up and Eren always anticipated what Levi would do for him on both occasions. Levi often just made some chocolates for him on White Day but even that made him happy.

Last year for his birthday, Levi took him to a really nice restaurant and got him a necklace with gold charms in the shape of a key and a lock. Levi said the key charm was found from going through Eren's father's stuff but he got it professionally restored as it was rather dirty and put it on a gold chain from Eren's mother's jewelry box. He said he got the lock just because 'what else goes with keys?' and after asking if it had any kind of meaning behind it just got a 'it has no meaning, shitty brat, I just thought it looked nice'. Even so, having the charms from his father and Levi on a gold necklace that belonged to his mother made the gift so incredibly precious to Eren that he wore it constantly without ever taking it off. Eren remembered hoping that maybe that gift and that fancy dinner meant that Levi might actually take his confessions seriously but he ended up going to sleep that night like every other night. Although (ashamedly) Eren wished something else might happen that night, it was one of the best days of his life.

* * *

Levi was hard at work, concentrating on getting ready for a court case the next day when Hanji approached his desk.

"Hey, Levi! How about we all go get something to drink tonight, whaddaya say?"

Hanji was always in a very perky mood and it grinded on Levi's nerves often. If she wasn't such a fantastic lawyer he probably wouldn't borderline be able to handle her most days.

"No, I have a court case tomorrow," he said bluntly, not taking his eyes off of his papers.

"Aww come on! You're so not fun lately! And having a case the next day is all the more reason to go out and let loose tonight. Isn't that right, Erwin?" she turned to face Erwin who had been walking by.

"I hate to say it but I somewhat agree with Hanji. Although I don't think you should be going out the night before a case," he shot a look at Hanji who just smirked, "I think you've been a little uptight lately."

"I'm just focusing on my job is all," Levi scoffed.

"Hey, really, when's the last time you just went out and had fun? Hell, when's the last time you got laid?" Hanji asked, leaning over his desk.

Levi glared at her, "I will not be answering that stupid question."

"Jeeze, I think you're so pent up you might start making moves on that cute boy you live with. You can totally tell he would be all for it though, he always makes googly eyes at you," Hanji teased.

Even Erwin stifled a laugh but Levi just emitted a menacing aura.

"I would prefer it if both of you kept out of my personal life and got back to work," Levi almost growled as he tried not to lose his temper.

"Fine, fine! But you're going to explode one day if you don't let it out," Hanji winked and walked off.

"I'm sorry, Levi, to put it less bluntly I do think you might need some time off," Erwin gave an apologizing look, "How about after this case you get some days off? Or for Eren's birthday? I know you've been trying to plan for it despite your busy schedule."

Levi remained silent for a moment then looked up at Erwin from his papers, "… I'll think about it," he mumbled and diverted his eyes back down.

Erwin smirked and returned back to his office.

* * *

Levi arrived back to the apartment later than usual. Seeing Eren's shoes by the door he called out to him.

"Hey, Eren, what's for dinner?" No response.

He heard the noise from the television so he figured Eren was just engrossed in some program. Levi made his way to the living room.

"Hey, didn't you hear-" Levi stopped mid-sentence after seeing what was on the screen.

A news report about a house break-in had turned tragic after one of the home owners was shot and killed.

"It's them again…" Eren said in a low voice, he must've heard Levi at the door after all. "Why? Why haven't they caught them yet? Why are they still out destroying people's lives?" Eren's voice was steadily getting louder.

Levi walked over to Eren's side but didn't say a word. The scowl on Eren's face was menacing but tears still welled in his eyes.

"How many people have to die?" Eren bit back tears and kept his gaze on the screen.

Levi placed a hand on Eren's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"The world isn't fair but… That doesn't mean we should let it get to us," Levi said in a quiet voice. "Take that anger and put it towards something that can make the world better."

Levi was about to walk away to give Eren some time to himself until he felt a strong grip on his wrist.

"Please stay," Eren asked quietly.

Levi hovered in place for a moment but decided to stay and sat down next to Eren. Without a word, Eren leaned onto Levi's shoulder and squeezed his hand tight.

"No matter how mature I think you get you're still a kid, huh?" Levi said.

He felt it was important to allow himself to comfort Eren. If it was for Eren, he'd compromise his personal space in order to show him that everything was okay. He realized that he'd let this kid get away with a lot that no one else could get away with. Eren was always a special case when it came to things; honestly, he was the first person Levi was so comfortable with. There was his family, but he had never had such a close relationship with them. He considered Erwin one of his best friends, and even though Hanji drove him up the wall sometimes she was an important friend nonetheless, but even they had they're limits on how close and how personal they could get with him. It was like this kid somehow snaked his way into this close and intimate spot next to him without him even realizing it.

The two sat in silence for a good while; it wasn't really necessary for them to exchange words. But soon Levi heard a soft and heavy breathing coming from Eren.

'He fell asleep, didn't he?' He thought to himself as he nudged Eren to make sure.

When there was no response he tried again to wake him up.

"Eren, wake up," Levi nudged him again and this time Eren stirred with a groggy groan.

"Nn... Sorry… I fell asleep," he rubbed at his eyes with his free hand as he was still grasping onto Levi's with his other hand.

"Get to bed then. I'm tired myself; I've been working all day and my court case is tomorrow," Levi lifted himself up causing Eren to have nothing to lean up against, causing him to flop over on the arm of the couch.

"Leviii," Eren said in a long, lazy drawl, "Thank you," he smiled.

"Welcome," Levi nodded and headed towards his room.

"Can I sleep in your room tonight?"

"No," Levi shut the door to his room as he heard Eren silently curse to himself.

* * *

Eren had been a bit eager all day. At school he constantly looked at the clock to see how much time was left until he could leave. Even though he had stayed up late last night to make Mikasa her White Day gift in return for Valentine's Day (she loved it, by the way) he still felt on edge despite the lack of sleep. Once the school bell rang signaling the end of the day Eren quickly gathered his stuff, made a swift goodbye to his friends, and tried not to run all the way home.

Levi hadn't woken up before Eren left that morning for school, neither was he busy in the kitchen during the past few days so Eren had no clue what he could be doing for White Day.

Eren could tell Levi was home by noting his shoes at the door. He must've not gone into the office today; maybe that was a good sign? But Levi was nowhere in sight as Eren walked in through the living room. He noticed the door to Levi's bedroom was closed and questioned whether or not it would be okay to knock. Not one for having much patience, Eren decided to knock anyway.

"Yeah," Levi's voice came from the other side and Eren slowly cracked it open.

Levi was sitting at his desk working on something.

"H-Hey, I'm home," Eren said in an unsteady voice, not quite sure why he was so nervous.

"Welcome home," Levi didn't move a muscle from what he was doing.

Eren remained quiet for a moment until the silence became awkward.

"I'm, uh, gonna go sit in the living room," Maybe Levi forgot this year? Although he hadn't the past years, he was extremely busy lately and it wouldn't be a surprise if it slipped his mind.

Eren went to turn and leave the room.

"Hey, get over here," Eren stopped in his tracks when he heard a voice from Levi.

He didn't waste any time lingering and walked up to Levi at his desk. Levi opened a drawer and dug out a decorative box, handing it to Eren.

"Sorry its store bought this year, I didn't have much time to make something," Levi took his glasses off and looked up at Eren.

The chocolates might have been from the store but they looked like they were really expensive, the kind you have to wait in line for if you're getting it the day before or the day of White Day. Eren smiled and thanked Levi; he didn't forget after all even when he was being hounded down at work.

Eren went to open the box when he noticed a piece of paper tied to it. He unfolded it and looked at it curiously.

"What is this?" Eren seemed confused, it definitely wasn't a card.

"Isn't it obvious? It's my work schedule," Levi frowned a bit at Eren not quite catching on.

"Uh, yeah it is… Um, do you want it back?" Eren held it out to Levi.

"Tsk, would you just look at it?" Levi said with impatience.

Eren still didn't quite get it but did what he was told.

"Hmm…" he stared at it for a while. "Oh, you don't have any cases for a while after the 25th… Actually, after that you're free until…" Eren finally realized and a smile spread across his face. "M-My birthday weekend! Levi, did you request off for me?"

"All it is is Erwin forcing me to take some time off, it just so happened to work out that way," Levi said in an indifferent tone like it was no big deal. "Since it's during your birthday think of what you want to do that weekend," Levi turned back to his desk.

Eren couldn't help but let out a chuckle and went in to hug Levi around the shoulders. "Thank you," he said with a big, goofy grin on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, go do your homework," Levi tried his hardest to hide the smirk forming on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

Eren couldn't believe his eyes as he walked into the hotel. To put it simply: it was extravagant. When Levi had driven up to the hotel parking lot instead of driving past it he was shocked; what a fancy place to be staying only one night at! The wide lobby contained beautiful furniture and the floor was marble along with a huge, brick fireplace. Expensive rugs were set out across the sitting areas and there were two massive chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. One wall of the lobby was fully made out of glass panes that looked out over the view of the ocean that was only minutes away.

"L-Levi…" Eren said in a breathless voice, his eyes looking every which way. "Th-This is too much…" all he could think about was 'how much did all of this cost?'

"Hn? It's normal, isn't it?" Levi said with a straight face, making his way to the check-out counter.

"Normal?!" Eren squeaked.

"It's your 18th birthday, you wanted to spend it at the beach and I picked a nice hotel for us to stay, don't complain," Levi mumbled.

"No! I'm not complaining," Eren shook his head, "It's just… so nice… thank you," Eren gave a reassuring smile.

"Good," Levi said and was then greeted at the check-out counter.

Levi was definitely well off but sometimes it was surprising exactly _how_ well off he was. Eren guess this is what you'd expect for one of the top lawyers in all of Japan. He felt a little guilty about how lucky it was for him to live with Levi who could really get him anything he wanted.

"Alright, come on," Levi said after checking in with the clerk and started walking towards the elevators.

Levi pressed the button for the 10th floor. They made their way a bit down the hallway until Levi stopped in front of one of the rooms, slipped the key card into the lock, and opened up the door.

The room was about as impressive as the lobby – widescreen TV, two queen-sized beds, mini-kitchen, full shower and bath, and a large sliding window door leading out onto a veranda that looked out onto the ocean.

"Amazing!" Eren set his luggage down, walked over to the sliding door, and opened it up letting the sea breeze roll into the room. He stepped out onto the veranda and leaned against the railing. "Levi, this is incredible!"

Eren looked back behind him with a wide grin. Levi seemed to have already started to take things out of his luggage.

"Levi, you have to come look!" Eren called out to him.

Levi looked up and casually made his way out onto the veranda.

"Isn't it awesome?" Eren asked with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, it's really nice despite it being the off-season for going to the beach," Levi said looking from Eren's face to the view in front of him.

Eren instantly knew what he wanted to do for his birthday and that was to go to the beach. He loved going and he hadn't gone in so long. He didn't really care that the water was probably still cold for swimming. It was starting to warm up by the end of March so that's all that mattered to him. He didn't expect Levi to go through such great lengths for all of this, though.

"Ah, I wanna go down to the beach already. Can we go? Please?" Eren pleaded and even tugged at Levi's arm. He didn't even care that he was acting like a complete kid right now.

"Fine, it is your birthday after all," Levi responded and Eren darted back into the room to change his clothes.

It didn't take much time at all for Eren to come out of the bathroom with his swim trunks and t-shirt on. It seemed like Levi did the same and was wearing a simple pair of black trunks and a blue and white striped tank top. Eren kind of wished he got ready faster so he could've 'accidentally' walked out on Levi changing. But he shook that thought from his mind almost as soon as it got there.

"Ready?" Levi asked, grabbing a couple of towels and some sunscreen from his bag, Eren giving an enthusiastic 'yes'. "It shouldn't take too long to walk there so we'll go on foot."

Eren nodded and headed out the door.

Eren talked excitedly until they arrived at the beach. As expected, there weren't too many people there but luckily this was one of the warmer days within the past few weeks so it was a surprisingly nice day.

Levi handed a towel to Eren and proceeded to lay out his own; making sure it was neat and free of wrinkles before sitting down on it. Eren took off his shirt and dropped it on the sand next to his towel.

"Levi, you don't want to go in the water with me?" Eren said with a bit of a sad tone to his voice.

"I'm not getting in that freezing water," Levi's eyebrows knitted together as he looked up at Eren.

"Aw… But I was looking forward to coming to the beach with you," he pouted.

"What the hell do you think all of this is? I'm here, aren't I?" Levi leaned back on his hands.

"I meant like, us going in the water together and looking for shells and stuff…" Eren moped.

Levi gave a hard 'tsk' and stood up after a bit of resistance. "I thought we were here for your 18th birthday, not your 8th." Levi made a jab at Eren acting like a kid.

"It doesn't matter how old you are, you can still have fun at the beach,"Eren laughed.

Levi let out a sigh and proceeded to take off his top. Eren couldn't help but have his eyes wander over his body. Levi might've had a job as a lawyer that didn't consist of much physical labor but that certainly didn't show in his physique. Levi definitely took care of his body and his toned abs from daily workouts definitely showed. Although Eren's body was lean and fairly muscular, he felt scrawny standing next to him.

"Come on!" Eren broke his gaze from Levi's body before he could be noticed that he was ogling it and grabbed Levi by the wrist, leading him towards the ocean.

"Don't tug on me!" Levi protested but went along with Eren nonetheless.

Eren hit the water first with Levi touching it soon after.

"This water really is freezing!" Levi made an attempt to step back but Eren still had a tight grip on his wrist.

"It's not so bad! Once you stay in it for a while you'll get used to it!" Eren was smiling like an idiot, trying to convince Levi to go in.

A couple of girls walking by giggled at the scene, one of them whispering 'he's cute' in the process. Levi wasn't sure which of them was exactly 'cute' but he definitely knew that an eighteen-year old kid tugging on a twenty nine-year old man's arm trying to get him to go in the ocean was probably an amusing scene for all of those not involved.

Eren laughed loudly, "See? You're making a scene; why not just go in obediently?" Eren gave a devilish grin and tugged Levi's arm harder.

That little challenging tone from Eren made something in Levi snap and he returned an equally sinister look.

"All right then," he said in a low voice and made a few steps towards Eren.

"That's the- uwoah!"

Before Eren knew it, Levi had wrapped an arm around his waist and hoisted him up off the ground. In his shock, Eren had released his grip on Levi who broke his hand free and got a better hold on Eren, slinging him over his shoulder. He walked with Eren deeper into the cold water.

"L-Levi!" he had picked up Eren with ease despite him being shorter than the kid – another result of his well-trained body.

Next thing Eren knew he was feeling weightlessness as he was thrown into the water. He was completely submerged but the water wasn't very deep so he broke up to the surface almost right away.

"Pwah!" Eren came up and wiped his hair from his eyes.

Levi was right – this water is freezing! Not only that, he couldn't believe that Levi pulled such a stunt. Looking up at Levi, Eren saw that he had a proud smirk on his face with his hands on his hips.

"It's like that, huh?" Eren said, returning the smirk.

Eren lunged forward and grabbed both of Levi's ankles, pulling them towards him. Catching Levi off guard, he gave a loud 'woah!" and fell back into the water. Eren laughed as Levi came up out of the water with a scowl on his face.

"Brat…" he growled and splashed water in Eren's direction.

Eren continued to laugh as he swam out further trying to avoid Levi's attacks.

After a while of splashing around and definitely not acting their age, they both made their way back to the sand. Levi walked back to his towel and flopped himself down.

"Damn, I'm definitely going to need a shower after this," Levi said out loud. He hated the feeling of the salt water when it dried on his skin and the grains of sand sticking to him were annoying.

"Don't lie down!" Eren said, standing above him. "I want to look for shells."

"You can do that on your own, I want to relax," Levi replied and closed his eyes.

"Aw…" Eren whined.

"Fine, I'll go with you later but for now let me lie down for a bit," Levi made a shooing motion with his hand and Eren got the point and decided just to walk down the beach by himself.

It was rare to see Levi acting like how he was in the water anyway. He was usually so serious and it had been such a long time since he had seen Levi be so carefree.

Levi wasn't a boring guy, but it was rare when he'd wear his emotions on his sleeve. Eren remembered him being plenty fun when he was young. They'd play hide and seek and Levi would often go with him to the park when his mother wouldn't be able to get home from work until late. Levi would even go down the slides with him and push him on the swing set. That was when Eren saw Levi smile the most. It had been so long since Eren had seen him give a full, genuine smile.

Eren continued to walk down the beach, picking up a few shells here and there and watching a few small crabs scurry across the sand. He was getting pretty far from where Levi was so he decided to turn around and head back until he heard a voice from behind him speak up.

"Um, excuse me?" Eren turned around to see the two girls he had seen early when he trying to get Levi into the ocean.

"Oh, hello," Eren replied, trying to think if he knew them from somewhere but it wasn't ringing any bells.

"Ah, we couldn't help notice earlier but, is the guy you're with your brother?" The shorter of the two girls asked shyly.

"Um," Eren wasn't sure where she was getting at, "No he's not. We're… friends I guess you could say?" What exactly was their relationship anyway?

"Oh, well d-do you think m-maybe you could introduce me to him?" she asked nervously and fidgeted in place.

Ah, he must've caught her eye. Not surprising considering Levi was a good-looking man. In fact, Eren wasn't sure why he had never seen Levi with that many women before.

"Er, well, we're only here for a couple days so…" Eren couldn't deny it; he really didn't want her to meet him.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she blushed, "I-I should've just approached him instead of bothering you. I'm just a little nervous about it. Do you think he'd mind?"

"Uh," Eren paused, "He… has a girlfriend so…" he couldn't believe he just lied to get the girl to give up on him.

"Oh! Gosh… I'm kind of embarrassed now…" her face got redder but her friend gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

"I-It's okay, I just figured if you were interested in him I shouldn't give you any false hope…" Eren felt terrible for lying but he really didn't want anyone going after Levi. He was selfish, he could admit it.

The girl bowed an apology and Eren walked back towards where Levi was lying.

Levi's eyes were closed and just about the time Eren was wondering if he should wake him up, he opened one eye slowly.

"Back already?" He asked in a groggy voice.

"Ah, yep!" Eren said in a chipper voice, wiping the incident from his mind. He lay out his towel and sat down. "I picked up a few shells even though I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them," he looked down at them in his hand.

"Maybe we can find something to do with them when we get home," Levi muttered, shading his eyes from the sun.

The two stayed out for a little while longer until the sun seemed to start setting. Levi said he wanted to get a shower in before dinner and Eren agreed so they headed back to their hotel room. Eren joked about taking a shower together in order to get done faster (okay, maybe it wasn't a joke) but of course, in the end they ended up taking them separately.

Eren just waited out on the veranda, taking in the surrounding scenery. He took a picture with his phone and sent it to Armin and Mikasa. Armin replied with a 'So pretty! I bet you're having a fun time. Even though I already said it; happy birthday!" Mikasa just replied with 'That's nice…'

After Levi had gotten done with his shower and Eren with his, they were all changed and ready to go down to dinner. The hotel had its own restaurant and walking into it, it was obvious why Levi told Eren to bring dress clothes for dinner. Like the lobby and the hotel room, it was super posh with gold accents everywhere. Big windows seemed to be a theme with this hotel because again, there was a nice view of the ocean. Since it was nighttime by now, it wasn't very easy to see but the surrounding area had lights here and there from buildings and streetlamps.

Eren and Levi were sat at a table beside the window, Levi ordered a white wine and Eren opened up his menu.

"Wow… This place is so fancy… I don't think I've even heard of most of these things," Eren scanned the menu, "And these prices are crazy!"

"Don't worry about the prices," Levi replied, opening up his own menu.

"I can't help but notice them though," Eren gave a nervous laugh.

He was definitely not used to being in such an upscale place. There was a burning candle at their table that accented the dim lighting; there was even live music with a man playing at the piano. Honestly… it felt like a date. This is a place someone would take someone to impress a first date, or for an anniversary. Eren looked around and saw there were couples everywhere. Hardly anyone was sitting more than two to a seat and no one was by themselves. It made him feel a little out of place.

Eren shook off the feeling, and after having ordered their food (Eren having to ask what half of the menu even was) they sat in relative silence that might've been more awkward if it wasn't for the music from the piano.

Levi cleared his throat after finishing his first glass of wine and began to talk.

"Actually, there's something very important I want to discuss with you," he had a serious look on his face and made eye contact with Eren.

"Y-Yes?" Eren asked nervously.

"Don't worry, it's nothing to get frightened over," Levi reassured and continued, "I'm thinking about moving." He cut right to the chase.

"Moving? Like, out of the apartment?"

"Of course, what else would it mean?" Levi raised an eyebrow at that. "I've been considering doing that for a good while, actually, but there've always been things holding me back from doing so."

A waiter came by to refill Levi's glass.

"If I am to be completely honest… I would've moved out of there after I finished college. But…" he hesitated a bit, "I didn't necessarily want to leave my neighbors…"

Eren's eyes widened at that. He never knew that Levi had wanted to leave for that long and his family was the ones actually keeping him there.

"Then I spent all that money on the law firm with Erwin so that set me back as well. After your mother's death I felt that I should stay in case your father came back… Not that I've given up on trying to find him, but now that I have the money and I've grown tired of paying a rent, I want to own a house of my own." Levi took a sip of wine and set it down with a thunk. Placing his hands on the table in front of him, he gave Eren a serious look.

"I…" he tried not to waiver but Eren caught a bit of it in his eyes, "I want you to come with me… That is, if you'd like." He crossed his arms. "I know you'll want to go to law school and you can stay in a dorm if you'd like, but I've been looking at some places that are even closer to the school I attended than the apartment so you wouldn't necessarily have to dorm." Levi rested his eyes on the candle on their table.

Eren hadn't really considered what he'd do after high school as far as living arrangements went. He knew he wanted to go to law school but he realized he probably thought he'd be with Levi regardless. But the fact that Levi was planning on moving and basically _asking_ Eren to come with him made him really… happy. He often wondered if living with Levi burdened him and always asked Levi if he could apply for part-time jobs to help out with the rent, and Levi always shot the idea down. He said that his helping out at the office was enough and that he should focus on his studies.

"Of course I'll go with you, if it isn't an issue," Eren gave a weak smile.

"If it was an issue I wouldn't be asking you to come with me in the first place," Levi scoffed. He took another sip of his wine before speaking again. "I would prefer it if you stayed with me…" Levi mumbled under his breath but it was loud enough for Eren to hear.

Eren felt his cheeks redden at that and he couldn't help but grin.

Not long after, their food was delivered and they enjoyed the rest of the dinner in relative silence, with small talk here and there, especially about how good the food was. The silence wasn't awkward anymore, in fact, it felt very comforting. Levi had been looking pretty stressed lately, but today he looked quite relaxed and seemed to be enjoying himself. To a stranger or someone who didn't know him well, Levi probably looked the same as he did every day. But Eren could tell that all of his expressions were softened and he talked a lot more than he usually did which was usually a sign that he was pretty happy despite his aloof exterior. Overall, it was nice just to be out like this and not have to worry about other things in their daily life.

* * *

"Hahhh! I'm so full!" Eren patted his stomach as he walked back into their room.

Levi proceeded to take off his jacket and hang it in the closet. Eren did similarly but instead just flung it on the bed. He flopped down face first into the mattress and turned his head to watch Levi get himself comfortable. Just watching him was really stimulating; taking off his cuff links, unbuttoning the top couple buttons on his dress shirt, unfastening his belt… Eren could feel his whole body warming up. Before it got any worse he quickly got himself up off the bed and headed out onto the veranda; maybe some fresh air would help him clear his mind.

Breathing in the cool, night air and looking over the quiet town, and listening to the ocean waves did help – but that still didn't stop the fact that Eren was uneasy about how restless his body was over Levi lately. Maybe he was just at that age, but he couldn't help but desire to be touched by the person he was in love with.

Eren groaned in frustration, crossing his arms over the railing and setting his head down.

"What are you grumbling about? Constipated?" Eren heard a voice behind him and turned around to see Levi leaning against the entryway.

"N-No…" Eren stuttered and looked away.

Levi proceeded to walk out to the veranda and stood next to Eren.

"How was today?" he asked.

"I-It was amazing," Eren answered, tightening his grip on the railing and leaning forward.

"Good," Levi's gazed out over the town with a look that suggested he was in deep thought about something.

There was a pause between the two as they allowed the sounds of the ocean to make up for their silence.

"Thank you… Really, I can't believe you went through all of this for me," Eren looked over at Levi with a kind smile.

"I did this _because_ it was for you," Levi answered, unwavering.

Eren choked back a shocked expression. Sometimes he wondered if Levi even realized what kind of things he was saying sometimes. He definitely knew how Eren felt about him so why would he say and do such amazingly kind things? In a way, it kind of made Eren angry, but at the same time it made him incredibly happy.

Eren slowly reached out and wrapped an arm around Levi's, giving it a squeeze. Levi didn't react right away, but glanced over to see Eren focusing his gaze downward. He soon felt Eren leaning closer to him.

"What is-" Levi turned his head and his sentence was interrupted with lips meeting his.

It was only a light peck, but Eren's face felt like it was on fire.

"What are you doing?" Levi said in a calm, steady, yet menacing voice.

Eren went back to focusing on the ground but that wasn't hiding the insane red color on his face.

"I-I'm sorry…" Eren's voice cracked. "I love you… I can't help it, sorry… That's the other thing I really wanted for my birthday so I hope you don't mind…" he sounded like he was about to cry.

Levi just gave a sigh in response. He didn't know what to do, he really didn't. Eren was very important to him. Eren made him do things he could've never dreamed of doing before. Eren was his number one concern in his life; he had lived the past ten plus years and centered it around him. Why did he do all of this? Why was Eren the most important person to him in his life? Why would he virtually do anything for him, this kid that had this silly crush on him?

But was it really just the whims of a kid? Eren wasn't necessarily a kid anymore. Hell, Eren grew out of being a kid a long time ago. Eren wasn't that six year old brat anymore, Eren was a man and his feelings were genuine. He was a good person, he was an ideal student – why did he fall in love with him, Levi wondered. What was so great about a 29-year old man with a disagreeable personality to an 18-year old kid?

"I-I'm going out for a walk," obviously embarrassed of what he just did, Eren made his way back inside until he felt a strong grip on his wrist.

Next thing he knew he was being dragged back inside by force.

"What-" Eren didn't get to finish his sentence when he was taken and pushed onto a bed.

Levi swiftly climbed on top of him, still grasping the wrist he caught and grabbing Eren's other wrist in the process.

"Is this what you want?" Levi said in a low, steady voice.

Eren looked up in shock; his words were stuck in his throat as he was only able to make indecipherable noises.

"I… uh…"

Levi leaned in closer and whispered into Eren's ear, "What do you want?"

Eren shivered as he felt Levi's breath tickle the side of his face. His breath hitched as he tried to hold back any weird noises that were trying to escape from his mouth.

"I-I…" Eren tried to steady his breathing, "…want you…"

Levi tried to hide his stunned expression. Honestly, he wasn't sure why the hell he had just done what he just did. He went into it thinking it could scare Eren into realizing he wasn't ready for this type of adult relationship. But looking down at this kid – no, this man, breathing unsteadily underneath him and red blotching his face – he realized he wanted it too. Was it just the wine? Was he drunk? No... He wanted to do this. He wanted to pin Eren down and see him make an expression he hadn't seen before.

And that scared the hell out of him.

Levi sat up with a jolt; a slightly terrified look crossed his face.

"…Levi?" Eren asked in a meek voice.

Levi slapped a hand to his forehead – what the hell was he about to do? Making his way to get off of Eren, it was now him who felt a grasp around his wrist.

"Don't…" Eren looked up with pleading eyes.

Levi couldn't help but feel his heartbeat quicken.

"Don't… say those things and then leave me like this," Eren lead Levi's hand to his chest; he felt that Eren's heartbeat was even worse than his.

Eren brought Levi's hand to his face and gave it a light kiss.

"Levi…" caressing the hand against his face, Eren rolled his hips up towards Levi's.

Levi got a shock when he felt Eren's body against his – Eren was hard. What was even more shocking was that he wasn't too far off from being hard himself. He slowly went back to leaning over Eren.

Eren let go of his grip and reached his hand out to Levi, resting his hand on the back of his neck. Eren gave a slight smile and a bit of a nervous laugh.

Levi could feel his mind going blank and his instinct take over. He slowly moved his face closer to Eren's and their lips met for their second kiss that night. This kiss lingered longer than the first and it was a lot less sudden. As their lips parted, Levi saw a glazed yet slightly sensuous look on Eren's face – it was amazing how much that look sent a heat to his lower body.

Levi moved to give Eren a kiss on the cheek and then on his neck. Eren let out soft sighs with each kiss.

Levi rested his head against Eren's shoulder, "What kind of things are you making me do…" he said in a whisper.

Eren gave another nervous laugh, "I'm not sure but I can't tell you how happy I am right now." Eren kissed Levi's neck. "Does this mean… you've finally returned my feelings?" He asked in an uncertain voice.

"… It might be," Levi really couldn't deny it but he couldn't completely admit to it either.

Eren smiled, leaning his head against Levi's. His hand that had been resting on Levi's neck started to wander until he reached down and felt the heat coming from Levi's lower half.

"You're hard too…" Eren whispered and started to rub the growing erection.

"Of course I am in this situation," Levi snapped back, propping himself up to look at Eren again.

"Hey, can I see…" Eren made like he was reaching for Levi's zipper.

Levi furrowed his brow and gave a short sigh.

"Horny brat…"

Despite Levi's words, he straightened himself up, still straddling Eren and proceeded to slowly unbutton and unzip his dress pants. He pulled them down as far as he could, exposing the boxer briefs underneath.

Eren could fully make out the outline of the hard member underneath the material and waited in anticipation to see it fully exposed. Levi made a slow motion to pull them down and little by little, revealed a pink head followed by the rest of his erection.

"Wow," Eren couldn't help but mutter after seeing it straighten out after being held from its confines. "It's so big… even though it's not fully hard…"

Levi could feel his ears redden as he watched Eren stare intently at his now fully exposed cock.

"Happy now?" He grumbled, trying to fight off his embarrassment.

Eren didn't say a word but not soon after, he reached a hand out and grabbed it near the head.

"What are you doing?" Levi almost shouted.

"It's so hot…" Eren seemed to be ignoring Levi's words and slowly moved his hand down the shaft.

"Nn…" Levi couldn't help but react to the stimulus. It… had honestly been quite a while.

Eren slowly moved his hand down to the base and slid it back up to the head. His eyes never wavered from Levi's cock that had started to get harder and his breath started to quicken. Eren started to slide his hand up and down over and over at a slow pace.

Levi let out barely audible groans as he couldn't help but concentrate on the pleasure that was running through his groin. But soon he was getting annoyed with the insanely hard bump right underneath him.

"So annoying…" he whispered, and grabbed for the hem of Eren's pants.

"Huh?" Eren seemed to have finally been snapped out of his trance as Levi made quick work of taking Eren's leaking cock out of his pants.

Eren even made to cover himself up but Levi grabbed his hand before he could.

"Don't go acting all coy now," Levi smirked and grabbed Eren's erection with his free hand.

Eren let out a moan the moment he was touched.

"Sensitive, aren't we?" Levi teased, thumbing the head of Eren's cock, making small circles with the help of the pre-cum leaking out.

Eren just moaned out Levi's name and bucked his hips.

Levi grabbed at both of their cocks and gathered them side by side in his hands, slowly pumping them together.

Eren gasped at the added stimulus of Levi's heat rubbing against his and grabbed either side of Levi's hips as small moans escaped his lips.

Levi quickened the pace of his strokes and his breath became uneven as he groaned a bit himself. He leaned forward until their faces were centimeters away from each other.

Eren slightly lifted his head to join their lips and Levi responded by leaning in to deepen their kiss. Their heavy breathing continued as they gasped for breaths between kisses. Eren tongued at Levi's lips and as if on instinct, parted his lips and let Eren's tongue slip in.

Levi rarely enjoyed something like this. Kissing where both people's saliva was mixing together and tongues were in other mouths was something he couldn't help but find unsanitary.

But he found that doing this with Eren was far from unpleasant. He was already rubbing their genitals together so what could be worse? All he knew was it felt good. He wanted more.

Levi lightly sucked on Eren's tongue. Wanting to feel more of a connection to Eren, he slipped his tongue into Eren's mouth, running it slowly over every inch of it. Eren moaned in approval as Levi simultaneously grinded his hips closer into him and pumped their cocks faster.

"Levi," Eren sighed as their mouths parted. "I feel so good…"

"Me too," Levi whispered, tightening his grip.

Levi moved his head to Eren's nape and lightly grazed his teeth against Eren's neck. Surprisingly, Eren seemed to really feel it as he let out a louder moan just from his neck being touched by Levi's teeth. Levi gave a light bite to his neck and Eren grinded his hips in response.

 _'So this is his sensitive spot, huh? Or does he just get off on getting bitten…'_ Levi thought to himself and continued to make small, light bites on Eren's neck, earning a moan from him each time.

"I… I'm cumming soon…" Eren whimpered.

"Go ahead," Levi replied, stroking even faster.

Eren's hips started to move more to increase the stimulus and he could feel his limit coming soon.

Levi also felt that he couldn't hold out much longer. His mouth found its way near the back of Eren's neck and could hear Eren's breath hitching, signaling his release was soon.

Levi couldn't help but think 'mine' as he bit down on the back of Eren's neck. Eren let out a loud moan and only moments later, his hips bucked up.

"Ah, ah!" Levi could feel Eren's semen shoot out in between their bodies and his body stiffen.

"Nn…"

Levi let out a groan as he felt himself followed Eren soon after. Slowing his strokes, his cock gave a small jump as a line of semen also shot out between the two of them.

Steadying his breath after riding out his orgasm and Eren doing the same, Levi rolled off of Eren and lay beside him. Straightening out their disheveled clothes, neither of them spoke for a moment and it gave them a chance to settle back into reality.

Levi couldn't believe what he'd just done; he couldn't believe what had come over him. He's known Eren since he was a little kid, he still felt like Eren was still that little kid sometimes in his mind. So why would he get the urge to touch him with that in mind?

After Eren had normalized his breathing, he turned over on his side away from Levi.

"S-Sorry," he said, barely audible. "I made you do something weird…"

Looking over at Eren's back, Levi could see him tremble a bit. He sat up and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn back over.

"You didn't make me do anything," Levi said in reply.

Eren's eyes were watering when he looked up at Levi's face with a shocked expression. He looked away and wrapped his arms around Levi's waist.

"I really like you, I really do…" Eren mumbled into his stomach. "I'm serious about you. I don't want anyone else to have you…"

Levi sighed and set his hand on Eren's head. That had always comforted Eren; that was one of the rare things that was constant in his life. If Eren had any troubles, Levi would run his hands through his hair and tell him things like 'it'll be okay'. They just remained there like that for a moment, Levi stroking Eren's hair and Eren resting his head on his lap.

"If I didn't want any of that to happen I wouldn't have done it," Levi said quietly.

When he didn't get a response, he leaned over to check Eren's face. He'd fallen asleep and was now looking a lot more relaxed.

Levi gently moved Eren off his lap and proceeded to remove their soiled clothes and clean their bodies off; he prayed this mess would come off of his shirt.

* * *

Eren woke up to a bright sunlight shining through the wide window and a slowly breathing figure on his bed. Rubbing his eyes, they focused on the person in his bed and it was none other than Levi, quietly sleeping and looking very peaceful. He noticed that he was just in some boxers and so was Levi. He must've taken off their dirty clothes from last night…

Eren reached out to brush a few strands of hair out of Levi's face and he stirred from his sleep.

"Ah, sorry," Eren whispered.

Levi got up with a grunt and stretched.

"You slept in the same bed as me," Eren said and looked up with a smile.

"Are you complaining?" Levi mumbled.

"N-No!" Eren sat up but Levi was already standing up from the bed. "Where are you going?"

"I'm getting ready," Levi responded walking towards the bathroom.

"Huh?"

"You want to go to the beach again before we have to leave, right? Hurry up and get ready," Levi said without turning around.

"Ah, of course!" Eren said with a smile and got up from the bed.

He ran towards the bathroom and ended up in front of Levi who was walking there at a slow pace.

"Hey don-" Levi was about to scold him but cut himself off.

He grabbed for Eren's arm and yanked him towards him.

"Ow!" Eren protested but Levi didn't let go.

"You can't take your shirt off today," Levi demanded with a serious look on his face.

"Huh? Why not? I'll get a weird tan," Eren looked confused.

Levi said nothing and just dragged Eren into the bathroom with him. Turning on the light, he pointed towards the big mirror over the sink.

"What are… WHA!" Eren shouted as he saw himself in the mirror.

There were bruise marks on the side of his neck that looked oddly a lot like… teeth marks.

"The one on the back is worse…" Levi blushed, actually blushed, and couldn't make eye contact with Eren.

"Really…?" Eren asked with curiosity.

Levi walked out of the bathroom and walked back in with a hand mirror and held it up behind Eren.

"Oh my god!" Eren was now blushing at the clearly defined bite mark on his lower neck.

Then, he started to laugh, his laughs echoing off the bathroom tiles.

"I guess I really will have to wear a shirt then huh?" He said still laughing, turning towards Levi.

"Th-This isn't funny," Levi still wasn't making eye contact.

Eren smirked and bent towards Levi placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Oi…" Levi now glared in his direction. At least he was looking at him now.

"Well, at least we've learned our lesson," Eren went back to looking at the marks on his neck.

"What lesson? That you're a complete masochist and you get off on getting bitten?" Levi turned around and walked out of the bathroom.

"N-No! That's not what I was talking about!" Eren blushed and chased off after him.

After things had settled down and they finally got ready to go out, the two of them headed out to the beach. Unfortunately, Eren did have to keep his shirt on but it didn't keep him from enjoying himself. They stayed until they had to head back and get ready for check-out. On the ride home, Eren was exhausted, he fell asleep and stayed asleep for the remainder of the drive.


	7. Chapter 7

Eren's one true wish had come true: his feelings for Levi seemed to have been mutual. On his 18th birthday they finally seemed to have consummated their relationship. Even though they didn't go all the way, Eren was more than happy that Levi seemed to have developed feelings for him. Levi even gave him an insane bite mark on his neck that felt like him marking his territory. Although Eren struggled for the next few days at hiding it during school until it healed.

This should be their honeymoon period, where they do nothing but say sweet words to each other and spend all of their time in bed making each other moan in ecstasy over and over again…

Or not… Not once since that night in the hotel have Eren and Levi done anything. Sure Eren would give Levi a kiss on the cheek once in a while and tell him he loved him but Levi would barely react to it or just give a grunt in response. When Eren asked why he couldn't start sleeping in Levi's bed now that they were together, he said, "You should be focusing on your school work. If you have to deal with any kind of distractions, it could jeopardize you passing your exams and getting into law school."

Levi was right about Eren having to focus all attention on his academics, but it's not like he couldn't manage his priorities! It was agonizing not being able to do anything with Levi now that he'd gotten a taste of it. Even just a bit of cuddling would do!

Not only that, but they were both busy getting ready for the move, so most of their free time was spent packing up things into boxes. If Eren so much as suggested doing something intimate Levi would snap at him and tell him to get back to work.

It really didn't feel like they were in a relationship at all. In fact, it felt the same as it always was; Eren getting rejected by Levi over and over. It was kind of depressing but Eren couldn't let it get to him; he had to study and pass his exams. And he had to get all of this stuff packed and ready to leave by the end of the month.

* * *

"Hah…" Eren sighed and flopped down on the mattress in his room at the new house. He had just gotten finished bringing all of his boxes into the bedroom that was to be his. "I guess I'm getting my own room, huh?" Eren said out loud under his breath.

The house was indeed very close to the law school, Eren would only have to walk to get there and it wouldn't take long at all. It was also a hundred times nicer than the aging apartment and had so much more room. Although Eren would miss the place he grew up in, the house felt kind of special because this was a house Levi picked out with Eren in mind.

It would make sense for Eren to get a room since the place had three bedrooms, but Eren still wished he could've had a room with Levi. Well, maybe it's too early into their relationship to be sharing a bed together. Even if they did do some questionable things before they were even official.

"Ahh, now I'm thinking about it…" Eren grumbled and tried to fight off his bodily reactions.

Eren and Levi still hadn't made much progress on their relationship and it was starting to become frustrating in more ways than one.

Eren got up from the bed to try to get his mind on something else and rummaged through one of the boxes stacked against one of the walls in the room.

"Here it is…" he said, pulling out the well-used action figure.

His Lance Corporal Ultimate Titan Hunter action figure was kind of like his security blanket. Whenever he was feeling down or not having a good day or something was just bothering him, Eren would play with it even if it was a little childish. It was one of his most treasured possessions besides the necklace he always wore around his neck.

Eren went to sit back down on his bed and fiddled with the figure, moving its arm up and down causing it to swing its blade.

"Haha! Take that, you evil titans!" He flew the figure through the air, slashing at imaginary titans and taking them down one by one. "You're no match for the corporal!"

"Is that so?" A voice came from behind Eren causing him to jump off the bed and nearly drop the action figure.

"L-Levi! You scared the hell out of me! Don't sneak up on me like that…" Eren said in a frantic voice, trying to hide the figure behind his back. Judging by Levi's response, he heard what he was doing…

"You still play with that thing?" Levi ignored Eren's reaction and walked into the room.

"I-I was just… bored…" Eren stuttered. He felt himself blushing in embarrassment.

Levi gave that smirk he always gave when he successfully managed to mess with Eren. He walked up to him and held out his hand.

"Let me see it."

Eren resisted for a moment but slowly brought it out from behind his back and handed it over to Levi. Levi sat down and examined the figure, moving some of its limbs.

"So, he kills titans if I remember correctly?" He asked without looking up.

"Yeah…" Eren responded, sitting down next to Levi.

"I remember you would always make me play with you and I'd be the titan because I was taller," Levi's gaze still settled on the figure. "Now you're the tall one, damn you…"

Levi looked over at Eren and lifted the figure above him.

"Slice," Levi grazed the figure's blade across the back of Eren's neck.

Eren seemed a little dumbfounded at first but then started laughing.

"What's so funny? You're supposed to be dead," Levi said in an almost too serious tone.

"It's just… seeing you play with that is kind of… cute," Eren said between laughs.

Levi narrowed his eyes and made a sour face, "Cute…?"

"Ah," Eren stopped laughing, "Well… not many adult men can pull off being cute." Eren attempted at making it a compliment worthy of Levi's acceptance but it didn't seem to be working.

Levi grabbed Eren by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer to his face and eye level.

"Who was the eighteen-year old soon-to-be- high school graduate playing with this thing all by himself a moment ago?" Levi said in a low voice.

"Um…" Eren could only mumble as all he could do was focus on Levi's face so close to his.

"Who was the one being cute earlier…?" Levi said in almost a whisper that made Eren slightly shiver.

Before he knew it, Eren felt lips pressed against his and warmth shot through his body. The pair of lips that he longed to feel against his since that night was finally kissing him again. After a few seconds their lips parted and Levi looked directly into Eren's eyes.

"That's all you're getting for today," he said in a soft voice, releasing his grip on Eren and getting up from the bed.

"H-Huh!?" Eren whipped his head around to see Levi making his way out of the room.

When he reached the doorway, Levi stopped and turned around to face Eren, "Focus on your studies and doing well on your exams so you can get accepted into law school. Then we'll be able to relax." He made to look like he was going to leave after that statement but stopped once again, "You aren't the only one that has to hold back, you know…"

Eren could've sworn he saw a blush creeping up on Levi's face before exiting the room. Eren just sat there dumbfounded for a moment until a smile spread across his face.

Well, as long as this confirmed that Eren was worrying over nothing, he supposed he could wait just a little while longer

* * *

Graduation day came upon Eren faster than he could've imagined and the whole thing was bitter sweet. Although he was ready to be done with high school and continue on in his adult life, there was no helping the fact that he was going to miss going to school and seeing his friends almost every day. A lot of his friends were going to different schools and of course, none of his friends were going to his. That's not to say he wouldn't see them again; Mikasa and Armin were attending a college within the area so Eren was relieved about that. But his other friends seemed to be going in all different kinds of directions.

Walking outside of the ceremony hall with all of the other graduates, there was a loud buzz of cheers and crying over graduating. Many people were chatting away with their family and friends and Eren caught a few blushing couples standing off by themselves. Eren gripped at the second button of his uniform – he knew that's what the couples around him were doing, the guy was giving their girlfriends or the girls were asking for their second buttons off of the boys' uniforms. Eren definitely wanted to give Levi his but he knew that it was a possibility Mikasa would ask for it. In all honesty, he didn't want to turn her down so he tried his hardest to quickly move about the crowd to avoid her and give it to Levi first. At least then he'd have the excuse to say that he'd already given it away.

Looking desperately through the crowds of people, he could not find Levi anywhere. He knew he came to the ceremony, Eren saw him sitting and watching inside the hall. He spotted Armin standing with his family but there was no sign of Mikasa with him. He searched about the area for a while, but not soon after Eren bumped into the exact person he wasn't looking for.

"Eren…" Mikasa turned around and seemed to know exactly who bumped into her.

"O-Oh, Mikasa," crap, now how was he going to deny her his button?

To Eren's dismay, Mikasa's eyes immediately darted down to his uniform jacket.

"You still have your second button," she said quietly, not taking her eyes off of it.

"Yeah… haha…" Eren didn't know how to respond now that he had gotten caught.

Mikasa looked up at Eren's face and noticed the nervous expression he was making. Even if he was trying to hide it, she knew that Eren wasn't planning on running into her. She sighed to herself.

"Its fine, someone already gave me there's," she held out her hand and showed Eren a gold button just like his.

"Whose is that?" Eren looked slightly shocked.

"Armin's. He said that I could have it since I was the closest girl to him," she closed her palm and slid the button into her pocket. "I know you want to give yours to someone else…" she said in a soft voice, a bit of sadness crossing her face.

Eren's heart panged slightly at the expression she was making. He knew all too well the feelings she was having. She had taken the scarf she was wearing and covered her mouth with it. She always did that whenever she didn't want people seeing her face. Eren placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mikasa, thank you," he tried to reassure her with a grin. "You're a really great friend… In fact I couldn't ask for a better friend."

A slight blush appeared on her face. "I-I'll always be your friend," she mumbled.

Eren gave a light chuckle, "Thank you for understanding, really."

Mikasa gave a nod. Suddenly, two arms came flying at her and wrapped around her torso.

"Wahhh! Mikasa! We've graduated! How am I going to survive without you giving me your leftovers at lunch!?" A girl with long brown hair had clung herself to Mikasa and started sobbing.

Mikasa lightly patted her head, "Aren't we going to the same college, Sasha?"

The girl sprang up as if she suddenly remembered, "Oh! That's right! Hooray!" She squeezed Mikasa into a tighter hug.

"Ah, well I'll be going you two…" Eren waved and left the pair alone. He never really understood Sasha very much, and understood even less how she and Mikasa got along so well. Besides, he still had to find Levi.

Looking around the crowd once again, Eren's eyes spotted Jean who seemed to be sitting by himself. For some reason he wasn't with any of his friends or his family, but Jean was kind of a loner anyway. But what surprised Eren the most was that Jean's second button seemed to be missing. Curiosity getting the best of him, Eren decided a detour would be alright considering the worry of Mikasa wanting his button was resolved. He walked over to Jean until the blond noticed Eren approaching.

"Oh, Eren, congratulations," Jean greeted.

"Congratulations to you too," Eren replied. "Hey uh, I couldn't help but notice your second button was missing." Eren's eyes settled on the empty space between the first and third button on his jacket. "I would assume you'd have given your button to Mikasa, but I just talked to her and it seemed the only one she got was Armin's."

"Y-Yeah, I didn't give her my button…" Jean averted his eyes from Eren.

Eren waited for Jean to continue but when he didn't he pressed on, "So… who did give your button to?"

"Does it matter?" Jean's face started to turn red. Eren wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment or frustration.

Eren furrowed his brow, "Jeeze, don't get all defensive. I was just curious who you could've given it to besides Mikasa."

"Hey, Jean, let's get going… Oh, Eren!" A cheerful and familiar voice came from behind him.

"Marco! I haven't seen you for a while; you came to see us graduate?" Eren was surprised to see Marco who had graduated from their school the previous year.

"More like Jean asked me to come," he said with a smile.

"Y-You said you wanted to come!" Jean said with a flustered face and stood up. "We gotta go anyway," Jean grabbed one of Marco's arms and started to drag him off.

"Huh? Why are you in such a rush?" Marco asked in confusion.

"We're going to be late."

"Late for what?"

Eren just laughed as a confused Marco continued to be dragged away by Jean.

 _'Maybe Jean gave his button to…'_ Eren thought to himself and smirked at the idea.

"There you are, you brat," Just as Eren was about to continue his search, the person in question had seemed to found him instead.

"Levi!" He couldn't help but say in a cheerful tone.

"Congratulations, Eren," Levi reached up and ran a hand through Eren's hair.

"Levi…" Eren started to lean closer to Levi until the hand on his head gripped and pushed him back. "Ow!"

"What the hell are you doing in front of all of these people?" Levi said in a menacing tone.

"I-I just thought a little peck on the cheek would be okay…" Eren whined and rubbed his head.

"It is definitely not okay," Levi crossed his arms and glared.

"Sorry…" Eren mumbled, looking down in defeat.

Levi gave a hard tsk.

"Ah! I almost forgot," Eren recovered from his scolding, "Can we go over there for a second?" Eren nodded towards an area with less people around.

"What for?" Levi gave a questioning look.

"Please?" Eren slightly pouted, hoping that at eighteen this would still work on Levi.

The older man gave a 'hmph' and followed Eren towards a tree further away from the noise and the crowd. When Eren turned around, Levi was waiting for whatever Eren had to say with his arms crossed.

Eren took a deep breath, "Alright…" he reached for the button on his jacket and fiddled with it until it loosened and came off. "Will you do me the honor of having my second button off of my uniform, the button closest to my heart?" Eren held it out towards Levi.

Eren was so nervous that during the whole process he had avoided eye contact with Levi. Even as he held out the button towards him, Eren didn't look up. But nothing was happening and Levi wasn't taking the button… Eren slowly lifted his gaze to see the man's face to figure out why he wasn't taking it.

Levi was making a hardened, sour face and Eren probably hadn't seen him make a face like that in a long time. In fact, the last time Eren probably saw Levi make a face like that was the time he made an absolute mess in his kitchen. When he was about eleven, he insisted on cooking a dinner for Levi and it didn't turn out so well...

"Are you making a marriage proposal or are you giving me a stupid button?" Levi finally spoke up, the sour look not leaving his face.

"Th-That's so cold, Levi… I really meant it," Eren was downtrodden and felt his shoulders sink.

Despite his harsh words, Levi reached for the button Eren was still holding out and snatched it from his hand.

"Well, you did say you were going to marry me when you turned eighteen," Levi slid the button into his pants pocket.

"Huh? You remember that?" Eren quickly straightened himself up with a slight blush on his face.

"How could I forget an elementary school kid proposing to me," Levi gave a short chuckle, "You were rather cute back then.

"So does that mean we can really get married!?" Eren looked at Levi with hopeful eyes.

"Hell no," Levi went back to making his usual stern expression.

"Aw…" Eren moped.

"Anyway, we're have to get going soon. I ran into Mikasa and Armin earlier so we need to meet up with them," Levi motioned for Eren to follow him.

"Huh?" Eren asked.

"You three just graduated so I'm treating all of you to dinner," Levi replied and continued to walk.

"Really?" Eren trotted up beside Levi.

"Of course. They're your friends, right? And you probably won't be able to see them as much as you used to anymore. Take this as an opportunity you might not get as often when all of you start college. Law school can be tough."

Eren just smiled in response. Levi really was kind; he was constantly proving that to Eren through almost everything he did. He just chose to show his kindness through his actions instead his emotions. It was little things like that that Eren really liked about him.

* * *

The dinner with his friends and Levi was actually very much needed. He felt that, even if it was a little, Mikasa found some closure in the fact that Levi was more than prepared to be there for Eren. Of course, Eren and Levi never flat out said that they were 'together' now, but Armin and Mikasa were Eren's best friends – they kind of realized it by now. Armin just said that he was glad that they found a house together and was looking forward to seeing it after Levi said they could come over and visit on their free days.

The ride home was relatively quiet, though. He wasn't sure if it was because he and Levi were both full from the food or if it was just because the day wore them out, but Eren felt like the silence was starting to get stifling.

"So, Armin and Mikasa seem to be okay with us…" Eren spoke up quietly.

Levi remained silent for a while before responding. "They're your best friends, of course they would be." Levi seemed to have not mentioned the fact that it was never officially announced to them, but like Eren, he noticed they probably figured it out anyway.

Eren attempted to say a few other things to start up conversation but they all ended up being cut short by Levi's curt answers. He seemed like he was deep in thought about something else which kind of worried Eren. It stayed like that for the remainder of the drive until they drove up to their driveway.

Walking into the house, Levi set his car keys on the hook and walked towards the bathroom, announcing he was going to take a shower. Eren just nodded and flopped himself on the couch in the living room. Although the night was nice, the atmosphere between the two of them suddenly seemed to have turned tense. Eren wasn't sure why Levi suddenly seemed to be on edge since dinner ended but it was worrying him. Was Levi starting to re-think this whole relationship between them? Eren's stomach turned as he thought of the worst.

Before Eren knew it, he had spent a good while sitting on the couch dwelling on negative thoughts and Levi had walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Go take a bath," Levi's stern voice broke through Eren's thoughts causing him to jump a bit.

"O-Okay…" Eren said, getting himself off the couch. He was planning to go wash himself off after Levi anyway…

Eren made his way past Levi towards the bathroom, trying not to stare too hard at Levi's exposed body. When Eren reached for the door handle, Levi spoke up again.

"Come to my room after you're done," He said without turning to face Eren and walked into his room.

"Huh!?" Eren's voice cracked in a strange octave, but before he could get an answer, Levi had closed his bedroom door behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Come to his bedroom after Eren was finished with his bath?

Eren's heart started to beat faster as he ruminated over the words Levi just said. Was he going to let Eren finally start sleeping in his bed? What else did it mean to invite someone else to their bedroom…?

Eren's eyes widened when he realized the most obvious meaning. Could it really be…? Since Eren had finally graduated and gotten accepted into law school was Levi finally going to…?

Eren's face burned as he burst into the bathroom and quickly took off his clothes, getting into the shower before the water had even warmed up. He tried not to clean himself too fast as he wanted to clean himself well enough for Levi. It would be really embarrassing and discouraging if Levi got a look at Eren's body and deemed it 'unclean' and changed his mind.

Besides that, what if Levi didn't have sex in mind for tonight at all? What if he was just granting Eren access to his bed just to sleep in for the night? Eren grumbled at the thought and figured maybe he shouldn't get his hopes up so high. He didn't want to seem too eager but, well… he was. He wanted to do it with Levi badly – he didn't even care if he was on top or bottom. In fact, he figured there was no way Levi would be on the receiving end and that was totally fine with Eren. All he wanted was to join their bodies together.

Coming out of the bathroom now fully cleaned, Eren walked towards Levi's room but stopped in his tracks. _'Maybe I should put some clothes on,'_ he thought to himself. Yeah, going in with just a towel wrapped around him is looking a little _too_ eager. Plus, Levi would probably kick him out after saying something like, 'There's no way you're sleeping in my bed naked!'

After going to his room and throwing on a t-shirt on and some boxers, Eren made his way back to standing in front of Levi's door. With an audible gulp and a deep breath to calm down his heart, Eren quietly knocked on the door.

"Come in," he heard Levi say from the other side.

Eren slowly opened up the door and peaked inside to see Levi dressed in his pajamas, reading a book. Upon seeing Eren, Levi closed the book and took off his glasses, setting them down on his nightstand next to him.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there?" Levi questioned, noticing Eren wasn't moving an inch from the doorway.

"Ah, no…" Eren said nervously and walked over to the bed, sitting down on it slowly.

"Are you going to lie down?" Levi asked, now sounding slightly irritated.

"Y-Yes!" Eren flopped himself down on the bed and pulled the covers over him.

Levi sighed and lay down on his back, not saying a word.

"Um…" Eren spoke up, "Can I spend the night in here then?"

"What do you think?" Levi responded and then turned his back away from Eren. He paused for a moment and continued, "You can sleep in here from now on if you like."

Levi was speaking very quietly but Eren heard every word.

"Huh? Really?" Eren asked excitedly.

"As long as you don't filthy up the sheets or wake me up in the middle of the night."

Eren chuckled and embraced Levi from behind, "Thank you…" he said.

Levi didn't seem to mind as he let Eren cling to him without any complaints. Eren nuzzled his nose against Levi's neck and started to leave light kisses behind his ear.

"I love you…" Eren whispered by Levi's ear which started to turn red. "I…" Eren struggled to get his words out, "I don't know if you feel the same way, but if you do…" he paused, "I want us to do more than what we did in the hotel…"

Eren could feel his face heat up and buried his face against Levi's back. There was no response for a moment and Eren was starting to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to speak what was really on his mind.

But before he knew it, Levi made a quick movement and was hovering over Eren, pinning both of his arms against the bed. Eren looked up in shock over how quickly this situation changed. Levi had a serious look on his face and it was… kind of scary.

Levi leaned in, his face getting closer to Eren's, their lips ghosting over each other. Despite how rough and sudden everything before it was, Levi slowly and gently pressed his lips against Eren's. Eren instantly melted into the kiss even though he wasn't quite sure what was going on – Levi was kissing him and that was all that really mattered at this point. The kiss wasn't very long but Levi continued to move his mouth down to Eren's neck and gave a slight nibble on his collar bone. Eren slightly moaned, already feeling a heat in his groin.

Levi moved his head to look at Eren once again, "Are you really sure you want this, Eren?" He asked with a quiet but serious voice.

"Huh?" Eren asked in a haze.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, didn't you just tell me what you wanted?" he grumbled.

Eren made a stunned expression and was feeling nervousness, happiness, and terror all at the same time. Was this really going to happen? Was Levi saying it was actually okay?

Levi averted his gaze and gave a quick sigh, "You're… important to me," he cleared his throat and moved his hands off of Eren's arms, "I may not have been able to reciprocate your feelings until recently but I've realized that… for a long time you've been the only one that could be the closest to me."

Levi was still avoiding making eye contact with Eren but his face was becoming more and more red.

"I can't imagine my life without you. When I realized that I didn't want to let you go after graduating high school, I realized that maybe it was… l-love…"

Eren had never seen the calm, composed Levi acting like this before. Sure he had his out of character moments and he could actually act quite silly, but now he was stumbling over his words and blushing which was something that he never did.

Eren gave a relieved laugh and smiled, "I'm so happy…" he wrapped his arms around Levi's back and sat himself up slightly to give Levi a kiss on the lips.

Levi leaned in to deepen their kiss, his tongue starting to prod gently over Eren's lips. The younger man opened his mouth slightly to let other's tongue in, allowing it run across every inch of his mouth.

Eren gave a small sigh when their lips separated, "I want to make you feel good…" he said in a breathless voice, his arms still clinging around Levi.

"Aren't you already doing that?" Levi answered in a low, quiet voice.

Eren nearly shivered at that statement but continued his previous proposal, "Even better than what we're doing now."

Eren put his hands on Levi's shoulder, pushing him down onto the bed and switching their positions. Levi didn't seem to be fighting back, so Eren continued, reaching for the buttons on Levi's pajama shirt. Eren bent forward and started to unbutton each button one at a time, kissing down Levi's chest every time a new bit of skin was exposed. Once every button was unhooked, Eren slowly pulled the shirt open further to reveal Levi's torso. It was always so nice to look at and here it was, open for Eren to touch and feel as much as he liked.

Eren's pulse quickened as he quickly took off his own shirt and moved his hands, starting from Levi's abs up to his chest. He felt a slight shiver as his hands grazed both of Levi's nipples that seemed to have hardened a bit.

"D-Do you like that?" Eren asked nervously, running one of his hands over Levi's chest.

"Play with my nipples and I'll kick you out…" Levi said in a threatening tone. Eren couldn't tell if it felt good or not but he decided it was best to do as he was told.

Eren leaned forward and continued to kiss the exposed and perfectly sculpted body in front of him, slowly making his way down until he reached the hem of Levi's pants. Continuing to leave light kisses around his navel, Eren moved a hand to rub the growing, hot bump between Levi's thighs.

Levi let out a quiet moan as Eren continued for a few moments, rubbing it until it started growing harder under his hand. After he was content with Levi's reaction, Eren sat up and moved his hand back to the hem of his pants, pulling down both pants and underwear in one motion.

Levi covered his eyes with his arm in embarrassment and it was obvious he was trying to hold back from saying something with the mumbling he was making.

Eren looked down nervously at Levi's now exposed erection. Resolving to continue, he bent back down, grabbed it by the base and slipped the pink head into his mouth.

"H-Hey!" Levi shot up once he felt the warmth engulfing the tip of his length.

"What!?" Eren replied, looking just as shocked and looking ironically innocent with a cock only a few centimeters away from his lips.

"Don't put that in your mouth…" Levi said with a red face.

"Why not? I told you I wanted to make you feel good and apparently this feels really good so…" Eren looked slightly disappointed.

"Where did you even learn to do something like that?" Probably a stupid question considering what they were about to do, and by now at Eren's age he's probably seen his share of internet porn.

"Does it matter?" Eren blushed slightly. "Anyway, I want to do this, ok? So just enjoy it…" and without wasting another second, Eren slid the tip of Levi's cock back into his mouth.

Levi went to protest again, but his words were caught in his throat at the rush of pleasure and the scene now playing out in front of him.

With slightly pink cheeks, Eren gave a light suck before tonguing the slit of Levi's cock. Inserting the head back into his mouth, Eren slowly worked his way down the shaft. Levi held back a moan as Eren gave a hard suck when he had gotten about halfway down his cock. It seemed like Eren couldn't go much further down as he struggled to take in more of its length into his mouth. He continued to bob his head up and down, sucking and running his tongue along the underside of its large girth. Eren kept looking up at Levi's face to see his reactions. His face was red and obviously aroused as he struggled not to make too much noise. Eren tried sliding his mouth down further but gagged a bit, causing tears to well up at the corner of his eyes as he kept trying to take in more and more of Levi's length. His breath became unsteady as he kept going, cursing his apparently sensitive gag reflex.

The feeling of Eren's warm mouth enveloping his cock was almost too good. Levi could even feel Eren's clothed erection starting to rub against his leg. Not only that; but Eren's young, innocent face that kept looking up in his direction, red from embarrassment and a single tear running down his right cheek from choking a few times aroused Levi even more. He felt like a pervert for that making it even more enjoyable but at this point he didn't care – it felt so good he wanted it to go on forever. But he knew if Eren continued he really would cum soon, and he wanted to enjoy this a little longer.

"That's enough…" Levi managed to say, putting a hand to Eren's head.

Eren gasped for air as Levi pushed him off. Continuing to pant, Levi flipped him over on his back with a thud. Hovering over him, Eren could feel Levi's cock, warm and wet resting on his lower back as the man leaned over him to open the drawer of his nightstand.

"What are you doing?" Eren asked in a soft voice, finally catching his breath.

"Getting this," Levi said, pulling out what appeared to be a bottle of lube.

"H-Huh? You just keep something like that in your room?" Eren asked in surprise.

"I'm an adult, aren't I?" Levi didn't want to admit that he had actually just stopped by the convenience store one day after work to buy nothing but that and condoms, which made him feel more embarrassed than he should at his age. It was a mixture of the fact that he hadn't bothered to buy something like that in so long and the fact that he was actually anticipating a night like this to happen. Nonetheless, at this moment he was grateful that his impulse buy proved to be the right choice.

Levi grabbed for Eren's boxers and pulled them down and completely off, leaving Eren fully exposed.

"You little pervert, you didn't put any pants on," he commented with a slap on Eren's behind.

Eren made a high pitched noise at the sudden sting he felt, "W-Well I usually don't sleep with any on…" He whined.

Levi ran a hand up Eren's thigh up to his ass, causing the young man to shiver beneath him. Eren's skin was so soft and undamaged, especially his thighs. Although Eren was very much in shape, he still had some features that indicated he was very much a young man.

 _'I'm about to have sex with a kid who's barely a legal adult. Not only that; causing him a bit of pain and humiliation drives me crazy. I'm a big, damn pervert,'_ Levi mentally sighed to himself.

Opening up the bottle, Levi poured a generous amount onto his hands. Eren heard the cap of the bottle close and slightly lifted his hips up closer to Levi.

"You're a bit eager, aren't you?" Levi asked, trying to kill the excitement in his voice.

Eren just mumbled something incoherent and buried his face into a nearby pillow; Levi could see that his ears were bright red.

Levi took his fingers and rubbed them against Eren's hole. Eren twitched slightly has he felt the slightly cold lube touch him. Making sure his fingers were covered with enough lube and Eren had relaxed slightly, Levi slowly pushed a single finger inside. Eren made a small noise when he felt the foreign object penetrate him.

"Are you alright?" Levi asked. Eren gave a small nod.

Levi slowly began to push in and out of Eren until it started to feel less and less tight around his finger. Thinking it would be okay, Levi slid in another.

The process took a bit of time considering that Levi's main concern was making it comfortable for Eren. It was odd though, that Eren was remaining quiet during the whole thing. He didn't protest as Levi slid in a third finger, (although a low groan could be heard) but he wasn't saying anything at all.

Satisfied with his work, Levi pulled out all three of his fingers. Eren let out a quiet gasp at the lack of something inside of him. Levi leaned over again to grab something from his night stand and pulled out a condom.

"Hey, you haven't been saying anything. Usually I can't get you to shut up," Levi commented, getting a little irritated by how quiet it was.

"I can't talk…" Eren said in a quiet mumble.

Levi leaned over Eren and set his chin on the young man's shoulder, "Why not?"

Eren took a moment to answer, "I'm just really nervous…"

"Do you want to stop?" Levi asked.

"N-No!" Eren stuttered, "Isn't it normal to be nervous your first time? I… I really want to do it with you… I love you…" he turned his head to face Levi.

Levi could feel an emotion boiling in the pit of his stomach. He knew he had feelings for Eren which he may have denied for the longest time, and he knew that recently its felt like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders being able to finally express it, but now he was feeling something slightly different. Like a whole new kind of love – infatuation, passion? Whatever it was, or if there was even a word for it, Levi knew at that moment that there really wasn't anyone else like Eren in his life, and there never would be.

Levi gave Eren a light kiss on the cheek and nuzzled his face in the crook of Eren's neck.

"I love you too, Eren."

Eren was the only one that could make him show such a vulnerable side, _'this kid really is special,'_ he thought.

"Levi…" Eren's voice cracked.

Levi lifted himself up and proceeded to open up the condom and slide it on.

"Are you sure you want to continue?" he asked again.

"Yes…" Eren's face was turned to the side and he gave a quick nod.

"Let me know if it hurts, alright?"

Levi applied more lube to make it as easy as possible. Grabbing Eren at either side of his hips, he steadied himself and set the head of his cock at Eren's entrance. Slowly, he pushed his hips forward, feeling the pressure of forcing his way inside Eren.

Eren held back a groan as Levi pushed in little by little until the head of his cock made its way in. Levi let out a slight gasp at the hot sensation he was now feeling at the tip of his cock. It felt so good that he just wanted to slam the rest of himself inside, but thinking it unwise, he kept his slow pace and pushed on.

"Ow…" Eren said but quickly covered his mouth.

"Hey, you're supposed to let me know if I'm hurting you," Levi scowled a bit and looked down at Eren.

"O-Of course it hurts! You're huge! And you're putting it in my…" Eren trailed off and went back to burying his face in the pillow.

Levi sighed and reached underneath Eren.

"You're completely soft…" he whispered. Levi was slightly disappointed and thought that maybe he hadn't prepared Eren that well after all.

"It's going to hurt at first, of course. Especially since I've never done something like this…" Eren turned his head again to speak. "But… You'll make it feel good in the end, right?"

Levi's heart skipped a beat at the pleading eyes with pooling tears.

"Of course I will," Levi said in a low voice. He started to rub Eren who had gone flaccid.

Levi leaned forward and started to kiss down Eren's back while simultaneously continuing to stroke him and push little by little, deeper inside.

Eren let out small gasps from all of the senses he was feelings. A dull, numbing pain accompanied by growing pleasure and the tickle of Levi's lips across his back. All of it together started to feel oddly good and he could feel his cock starting to harden in Levi's hands.

"So you're starting to feel good now, huh?" Levi commented, pressing his thumb against the head of Eren's cock.

"Nn… Yeah…" Eren replied in a breathless voice. The pain in his backside was starting to become a more numb feeling and the pleasure from Levi's hand was growing.

"I'm all the way in," Eren could hear Levi say after a short while and he felt the motion of something being pushed inside stopping.

"Huh? Really? The whole thing?" Eren asked in surprise. The thing he was most nervous about was if Levi was going to be too big for him and now it was completely inside.

"Yeah, and it's insanely hot inside of you," Levi said with a bit of a satisfied tone in his voice.

"Don't tell me something like that…" Eren grumbled.

"I'm gonna move," Levi said, ignoring Eren's comment.

Keeping one hand on Eren's hardening cock, Levi grabbed at his waist with the other and slowly slid himself out.

It was a strange sensation but surprisingly the pain was very minimal as Levi slowly pushed back in. Keeping a slow, steady pace, Levi continued and methodically stroked Eren's cock at the same time. Levi let out quiet moans with each thrust. Eren could've sworn that he could feel Levi getting bigger but maybe that was due to the fact that this was a whole new sensation he had never felt.

Levi adjusted his posture slightly and quickened his pace a bit as he felt the tightness around him loosening. Eren let out a small gasp from the change of position that somehow was feeling a lot better from before.

"Does it hurt again?" Levi asked and slowed his pace again.

"N-No, it… kind of felt weird there. It felt kind of good."

"Hmm…" Levi continued his thrusting as Eren started letting out slight moans.

"Ah, nn… Levi…" Eren felt like he was starting to feel strange when only a few moments ago it was agonizing pain.

"So this is where you feel good," Levi said in a low tone and picked up the pace of his thrusts.

Eren who had been relatively quiet now couldn't help but let moans escape from his mouth as Levi concentrated on the spot Eren said felt good. His cock was hard in Levi's hand and started to leak pre-cum, acting as a lubricant and adding more pleasure.

Levi could feel his senses starting to fade as the walls of Eren's rectum twitched and contracted around his cock causing an incredible sensation. Wanting more, his pace quickened, and was only motivated further by the erotic moans Eren was making underneath him.

Letting go of Eren's erection, he instead placed it on Eren's hip to better control his position. Leaning over, he started licking and grazing his teeth across Eren's exposed neck. He could hear Eren mumble his name over and over again as he started to nibble his neck and shoulders.

Eren slipped his hand underneath him to attend to his neglected cock. The sensation of Levi biting at his neck was just added arousal, and he didn't care if it made him seem like some sort of masochist when he secretly wished Levi would bite him harder.

Eren got what he wanted when he felt Levi's teeth push harder into his neck. He let out a louder moan than he was previously making and slightly bucked his hips from all of the stimulus he was feeling.

"L-Levi, I think I might cum," Eren panted with an unsteady voice, feeling as if he might not last much longer.

Levi moved his head and crushed his lips against Eren's. Their kiss was sloppy but neither of them cared if it was or not – they only cared about the rushing surge of pleasure building up in their bodies and its impending release.

Levi concentrated his thrusts against Eren's prostate, his breathing becoming uneven. Going back to Eren's neck, he continued to bite and suck on a single spot on the back of his neck.

Eren's breath hitched as he felt his release finally come. With a few strokes of his cock and Levi still pounding into him, Eren came over his hands and the bed sheets, moaning Levi's name with a sigh.

Levi wasn't very far off himself. As Eren's whole body seemed to shake, Levi gave a few more deep thrusts and felt a hot release of pleasure. He gave a loud moan as the insides of Eren pulsating around his length seemed to squeeze every last bit of semen out of him.

Both of them catching their breaths, Levi carefully slide himself out of Eren, tossing the condom in a nearby trashcan. He flopped himself down beside Eren who seemed to be calming down from his orgasm. Eren looked over with hazy eyes at Levi and slightly shifted over to set his head on the man's shoulder.

"Wow…" he breathed out, "I have to admit that it really hurt at first but once I got over the pain it felt really good." He gave a light chuckle and nuzzled himself closer to Levi.

Levi lifted a hand and ran it slowly through Eren's hair. Eren closed his eyes at the familiar and comforting touch. It was nice for a while until Levi spoke up.

"I need to change the bed sheets."

"Huh?" Eren lifted his head to look at Levi. Apparently he wasn't joking because the look on his face was serious. "We just got done having sex for the first time and the first thing you say is you want to change your bed sheets…" Eren sounded a little disheartened.

"Yes because your semen is going to stain them if I don't wash them right away," Levi sat up off the bed and tugged at the sheets with Eren on top of them.

"Wait a second!" Eren protested but was dragged along with the sheets towards Levi.

Levi pulled the sheets closer to him until Eren was right in front of him. Leaning over slightly, he gave Eren a kiss on the lips.

"I'm glad we did it," a small smirk played across his lips.

"Levi…" Eren was entranced by the kind expression on Levi's face; it was rare for him to make one.

"Alright now get off," Levi gave a strong tug which knocked Eren back on the bed. "And put your clothes back on and go wash off." Levi bundled up the sheets and started to walk out of the room.

"Y-You're naked too," Eren said, grabbing for his boxers.

Levi stopped at the doorway and turned around, "Are you really complaining about seeing me naked?" He asked in a serious tone.

Eren's eyes slightly widened, "No! You could walk around all day naked if you wanted…"

Levi furrowed his brow, "Like hell I would," and continued walking out the door.

* * *

Eren woke up to a horrendous pain in the lower half of his body and gave a loud groan.

"Oh my god it hurts so much…" he whined and buried his face in his pillow.

Levi stirred from his sleep because of Eren's groans, "Quit making so much noise…" he mumbled, pulling the blanket that he replaced on the bed last night closer to him.

"But I'm in so much pain…" Eren grumbled into his pillow.

Levi let out a long sigh, "If you just shut up for ten more minutes we can take a hot bath together and maybe that'll help your pain."

"Really?" Eren asked, lifting up his head.

"Really. So be quiet and maybe I'll give you a back massage too," Levi closed his eyes.

"Okay!" Eren said in excited whisper. He went to nuzzle closer to Levi but felt more pain as he attempted to move and had to stifle a groan.

Eren just settled himself back down and closed his eyes as well to try and ignore his dull, throbbing pain. He tried thinking of the rest of their day together to get it off his mind and patiently waited for Levi to get up.


	9. Chapter 9

Levi slowly opened up his eyes which went straight to the clock on his night stand. It read 7:27 AM and he knew it was earlier than he had planned to wake up on his day off, but he promised Eren to take him clothes shopping in preparation for starting his new school in a couple days. He felt a slight movement on his bed from behind him and looked over his shoulder. Eren was facing away from him, still out like a light, and gave a small sigh as he settled down into his new sleeping position. Levi's eye's settled on his partner's neck where there had been fading bruises in the shape of teeth marks. He made a mental note to himself that he had to get out of that habit of just biting Eren's neck during the throes of passion - especially when he'd be going to school in a matter of days. But it was hard when his reaction was so damn intoxicating...

Shaking the thought from his head, Levi quietly got himself out of bed and headed into the kitchen to make some tea. He decided to let Eren sleep in a little longer because he knew once the kid started law school he wasn't going to be getting much sleep after that.

Setting the kettle on the stove, Levi slipped on some shoes and made his way out to his mailbox. He really liked this location because the mail often arrived early as it was one of the first stops near the post office. Grabbing his mail and shuffling back inside, he flipped through the bills and spam until he stopped on a piece of mail that grabbed his attention. His eyes widened a bit, but then his face relaxed with short sigh.

Walking back in the house, the water seemed to be getting warmer and Levi set his mail on the counter and proceeded to make his tea.

With mug in hand, Levi grabbed the envelope that caught his eye and sat down on the couch to open it up. Inside contained a short letter and a picture. Levi read over the letter, but his focus was mostly on the picture. It was of a very pretty woman with red hair and a cheerful smile. Next to her was a man that looked a bit older with light brown hair, also wearing a smile. Cradled in the woman's arms was a baby no more than a few weeks old.

"They look happy…" Levi felt a corner of his mouth lift into a smile.

"Who are they?" Levi almost jumped at the voice that came from behind him and turned his head around.

"Shit you're really good at sneaking up on people…" Levi was glad he hadn't spilled his tea.

"S-Sorry…" Eren apologized, walking around the couch to sit down.

Levi exhaled a deep breath, "Acquaintances, I guess you would say," he went back to looking at the picture.

"Just acquaintances? You seem to be looking pretty hard at that picture," Eren asked suspiciously. He had known Levi for most of his life and he had never seen these people before, yet he got the feeling these were important people to Levi.

Levi scrunched his face a bit, Eren was way too sharp, "It doesn't matter…" He set the picture down and took a sip of his tea.

Eren gave a visibly unhappy expression and frowned, "Fine…" he went to stand back up until Levi stopped him.

"Do you really want to know?" Eren turned around.

"Well… Even though I've known you for so long I feel that there's a lot I don't know about you so I was just curious is all. You don't have to tell me things if you don't want to though," Eren's words contradicted what he was feeling but he didn't want to make Levi uncomfortable at the same time.

Levi seemed to mull over his thoughts a bit and looked back up at Eren, "Sit and I'll tell you who they are."

Eren obeyed and sat back down on the couch and eagerly waited for Levi to talk.

"This woman in the picture," he picked it up from the table, "She was my girlfriend in high school."

"Huh? Really?" Eren asked in surprised.

"What, did you think I never dated someone before you?" Levi said with a bit of bitterness in his voice.

"No, it's not that it's just that… I dunno, she doesn't seem your type?" Eren scratched the back of his head.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, she looks so nice and pretty and…" Eren trailed off after feeling the heated gaze he was getting from the shorter man and decided it was best to shut up.

"I'll have you know we were pretty serious," he retorted.

"…Really?"

Eren felt a little bit of a pang in his chest when he heard that. He rarely saw Levi with anyone outside of his small circle of friends so knowing that he was serious with someone other than himself made Eren feel slightly jealous.

"She's obviously with that guy now though, right?" Eren eyed the man in the picture, "And they seem to have a kid."

"Yeah, obviously it didn't work out," Levi went back to looking at the picture with a longing look on his face that made Eren a little jealous.

"What happened?" Eren wasn't sure if he should ask but if Levi was currently opening himself up to him he figured he'd take the opportunity.

Levi let out a sigh, "It's a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yes," Eren said with determination, "I want to know anything and everything about you."

Levi gave a smirk, "Alright then." He cleared his throat, "I guess I should start this story off by saying that the first person I dated was actually a guy."

"Huh!? Really!?" Eren shouted, unnecessarily loud.

Levi scowled and glared at Eren, "Yes, you don't have to shout. And in case you didn't know, I'm dating a guy now too but he's a loud, noisy brat."

Eren took that as his cue to calm down but it honestly was a bit shocking. Eren would've never guessed that Levi had ever had any experience with men before.

"Anyway," he continued, "During my first year of high school I had this sempai in my literary club. He was a third year and I admired him a lot. I was incredibly naïve back then so I would always follow him around and do whatever he wanted. Before I knew it, my admiration turned into some kind of infatuation – and I was pretty bad at hiding it. He noticed pretty quickly that I wanted to spend every breathing minute of my life with him so he made some kind of comment one day of 'Are you in love with me or something?' Of course I denied it but, again, I was pretty bad at hiding my emotions. I thought he would hate me but then he said that it was alright and we could go out. I was incredibly happy."

Eren was surprised at not only how open Levi as being but how different Levi was when he was young. The Levi now would never behave like this in a million years.

"It didn't take long until I started going to his house after school with him. His parents always came home late so we were often by ourselves. At first it was kind of just talking and playing games until I had to go home but it soon turned into… Well, other things."

Levi didn't seem to want to go into details and Eren didn't really want to hear them. He didn't want to necessarily know what Levi did in his past relationships.

"I thought we were so in love," Levi gave out a short laugh. "He would tell me I was 'so cute' and other things like that. But my sempai said I wasn't allowed to tell anyone that we were dating. Of course, I figured it was due to the fact that we were two guys so I didn't question it. We never really went on dates either; it was always straight to his house. Once in a while, yeah we'd get some fast food together or something but it was never anything special. But as stupid as I was, I thought this was what a relationship was and I happily went along with it and did whatever he wanted because I wanted to make him happy."

Levi's expression was a bit hardened as he gripped at his mug and stared downward.

"When graduation got closer I was worried about what we would do once he no longer went to the school. Maybe about two weeks before the graduation, before I was about to head back home from his house he stopped me and said that he thought we should end our relationship. I remember it felt like my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. He said, 'Two guys wouldn't work out anyway,' and then proceeded to push me out of the house because his parents were coming home soon. I just stood in shock and I couldn't say anything back. I didn't know what to say; this whole time I thought he really liked me and it all came at me like a ton of bricks – he was just using me because I was stupid and naïve."

Levi set his cup down and ran a hand through his hair.

"Levi…" Eren said in a soft voice and placed a hand on his leg.

"It's not over; I haven't gotten to her yet," Levi glanced towards the picture. "Petra Ral," he kept his eye on the picture. "I felt like she was an angel because she transferred to my school during my second year."

Eren continued to listen.

"I don't know how it happened, but we ended up getting along really well and even though I had spent a few months in despair over my sempai, being around her cheered me right up. Towards the end of the school year, I felt that maybe since she made me so happy that I could actually fall in love with her and asked her out. She happily said yes. I felt that maybe my sempai was right and that two men really couldn't be happy together so Petra was this person that was going to change everything for me.

She was cheery, bright, everyone liked her and all of my friends were jealous that I was dating her. People thought that it was obvious that we would get married after high school and we'd be some kind of super couple since my father was one of the best lawyers in the nation and her father owned a hospital. I just kind of went along with it because I thought it was normal."

Levi gave another short laughed and leaned back into the couch. He stopped talking for a few seconds as if he was trying to gather himself to tell the rest of his story.

"I realized when Petra brought up the possibility of marriage towards our third year that I didn't love her." Levi let out a long sigh, "It was frightening just imagining being married to her. Not because I didn't like her as a person, she was wonderful, but the fact that I could possibly spend the rest of my life with someone I didn't have those kinds of feelings for was scary. Yeah, other people brought up the whole marriage thing before and I'd just laugh it off but when _she_ brought it up it scared the hell out of me. She was a very pure girl so we hadn't done very much and I was completely fine with it. She thought that meant that I was such a good guy; but what it really was was that I didn't necessarily _want_ to be very intimate with her. She felt more like… a sister, I guess you could say. When I realized all of this I didn't know how I was going to break it to her. I knew we had to end our relationship or else I'd end up making her life miserable.

So, a few weeks before our graduation I pulled her aside one day and told her that I didn't think our relationship was working out anymore. She didn't say a word and instead she bursted into tears. I didn't know how to comfort her and all I could say was 'I'm so sorry'. She asked why and I couldn't give a response – how was I going to tell her it was because I never loved her? I felt like scum of the earth; Petra is a person who would give her right arm if it meant to help someone in need and I broke this person's heart."

Levi covered his face with his hands and breathed out heavily.

Eren could feel his face was tense since the story started because of his insane mix of emotions. He felt slightly guilty for being happy that Levi ended up breaking things off with Petra because now they could be together. But he felt sadness for the Levi and Petra at that time. He reached out and rubbed Levi's back in comfort.

"But it was for the best, right? If you stayed with Petra it wouldn't have worked out and you could've been going through that situation after you two had gotten married or had a kid and it would've made the whole situation even worse."

Levi set his hands on his chin, "That's exactly why I did it but I still felt like shit. I realized that I did the same exact thing I did to her as my sempai did to me. I passed my misery on to her and I felt awful about it. I didn't talk to her again after that day. Those last few weeks of high school were agonizing because she would ignore me if she saw me in the halls. People found out pretty quickly that we broke up and there would always be people whispering about it. I decided after I graduated that I would attend this law school that was far away from my hometown. Of course, this is one of the best law schools in the country so I might've been attending it anyway, but what made me pick it was that I didn't want to be around anyone from my school."

Eren slightly noted the silver lining of the situation and was glad that Levi picked this school in particular – it meant that they got to meet each other.

"Because of my situation with my sempai and with Petra I had pretty much closed off my heart. I didn't want to have a relationship with anyone anymore. So when I ended up having such incredibly nice neighbors and caring friends at law school I felt unworthy."

"You aren't unworthy!" Eren spoke up, "You were hurt and you made a mistake, that doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be happy…" Eren squeezed Levi's hand.

Levi gave a small smile, "Well, there is a bit more to the story."

Eren listened eagerly.

"About three years ago I received a letter from Petra; it was a wedding invitation."

Eren remembered that Levi had to go away for the weekend to attend a friend's wedding a few years ago. So that's what it was…

"I was unsure why she invited me and I thought maybe it was best if I didn't go but there was a bit of handwriting that wasn't originally part of the pre-made invitations. It said: 'I would really love it if you can make it' so I felt like maybe I should go. So I went and of course it was a beautiful wedding. I wasn't sure if I should stay for the reception but I figured since Petra specifically asked if I could come I would see if I could talk to her. I didn't want to interrupt her time with her family and friends but during the dinner she spotted me and ran up to me. She had a smile on her face and I couldn't help but wonder why she would ever be happy to see me after what I had done to her. To even further my surprise she hugged me. I didn't bother asking her why she was treating me so kindly so I just congratulated her. She knew what was going on in my head though, she was always pretty sharp.

'I'm not mad at you anymore,' she said. 'I wanted us to be friends again because I miss you, even though you broke my heart I regretted us not remaining friends.'

I was shocked that she felt that way, but I knew I felt that way too. Petra was really one of my best friends in high school and I guess that's how I mistook it for me being in love with her.

She wanted me to meet her husband but she said just to be safe and not cause some kind of tension that we should go under the pretense of cousins. I thought that was pretty devious of a girl like her but she just laughed it off."

Levi gave a small smirk and Eren realized he was smiling too.

"So I met this guy, Oluo," Levi tapped the picture, "Right away he thought I was the coolest person and was extremely talkative. It was rather amusing and he seemed like an alright guy so I made some conversation with him. I actually found out he was our age despite how much older he looked. At the end of the night when I had to get going, Petra pulled me aside again and told me that she hoped I could find happiness like she had. She even joked and said that it was a good thing that we had broken up."

Levi finally looked over at Eren, "So I went home with those words in mind, and what do you know – my brat of a neighbor was eagerly waiting for me to come back so he could show me some stupid video game he had bought."

Levi gave a genuine smile and Eren couldn't help but smile back. Eren leaned in and gave Levi a peck on the lips.

"So, did you find that happiness?" Eren asked with a smirk.

Levi wrapped his arms around Eren's neck, "I dunno, my boyfriend is kind of annoying and he kicks too damn much when he's sleeping."

"Ah, but you still love him despite that right?" Eren leaned in to move their faces closer.

"I don't know about that," Levi moved away and lifted himself off the couch.

"…Huh?" Eren said in a desperate whine.

Levi spun around and grabbed Eren up by the collar of his shirt, "If I didn't love him I wouldn't put up with all of his shit," he planted a kiss on Eren's lips and walked towards the bathroom. "Go get ready so we can buy your damn clothes."

Eren laughed and watched Levi walk out of sight.


	10. Chapter 10

It had been about two months since Eren started at his new school and as he thought – it was hard work. But he enjoyed doing it; he originally got interested in law due to his mother's death but he always felt like he had a knack for it and now he could test all of his knowledge. Still, in his free time, he would go over to Levi's workplace and help out with menial paperwork as much as he could.

The couple had gotten very comfortable with each other these past couple months as well. It was kind of hard to hide the fact that they were together around the office since Eren wasn't really one to keep it a secret. Whenever he came into the office, he'd greet Levi with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. At first Levi violently protested but after Hanji witnessed their little display of affection there really was no reason to hide it any longer.

"I hope you waited until Eren was a legal adult before you started this type of relationship," Erwin commented when he found out.

"Of course. I wouldn't lay my hands on a minor," Levi said bitterly – not because his sense of legality was questioned, but the fact that Levi _barely_ managed to make this a true statement.

"As long as you aren't breaking any laws I'm happy for the both of you, I suppose. Although, I would've never pinned you as one to be robbing the cradle like this," Erwin wore a sly grin.

"Can it, Erwin," Levi said with a scowl.

Of course, Hanji always had something smarmy to say. She often claimed that she knew Levi had a thing for Eren all along which would earn her a glare from Levi in response.

So things were going good for them although they rarely got alone time with each other. Eren even spent many nights falling asleep in his own bedroom because of the late nights where he had to work on assignments. Whenever they did get time together, their conversations were cut short and they rarely found the opportunity to have sex. Not only was Eren busy with school but there had been a surge of cases for Levi's law firm. They were still a relatively new couple so it was kind of disheartening to not be able to just take a day and be grossly sweet together in bed until afternoon.

But Eren was finally getting a couple of days off for a fall break and he decided that school was going to be erased from his concerns and he and Levi were going to do nothing but spend those days together – even if he had to force Levi to stay home from work.

Levi, being pretty much his own boss, could get those days off easily and the office had started to quiet down, so such tactics weren't necessary. He didn't want to admit it, but he was pretty excited to finally get some time off to spend with Eren. It really felt nice to be in love and be loved back; it felt nice for both parties to have the same feelings for each other. This was the feeling he felt that he didn't deserve and robbed himself of having for so many years. If it wasn't for Eren, he very well may have spent the rest of his life not being about to feel like this. Every day when he woke up, he silently thanked Eren for being there, lying beside him (on the days he wasn't up all night studying in his room, of course).

Eren was spending his last day at school befor the short break while Levi decided to work from home that day since going into the office wasn't necessary. He heard a slight rattle at the door but chose to ignore it thinking it was just Eren coming home early. After a few moments had past and Levi noticed the lack of familiar footsteps, he got up from his desk to see what may have been the source of the noise.

Like he thought, Eren was not home yet so Levi walked over to the front door to see if maybe it was someone else who had knocked. He opened the door and didn't see anyone standing outside but noticed some papers that seemed to be wedged between the crack of the door had fallen to the ground. Levi bent over to pick them up and saw that they were two unmarked envelopes, one seeming to have something besides a letter in it. Levi became cautious of what could possibly be in these letters – he did run a law firm, after all, it wasn't too crazy to assume he had rubbed someone the wrong way.

Levi looked over the envelopes and saw his name on one and Eren's on the other. Levi furrowed his brow hoping that if it was someone he was involved with due to his job, they hadn't had it out for Eren too. But something seemed familiar about the handwriting. Thinking it safe to at least open the envelope with his name on it, Levi walked back into the house, sitting down in the living room.

"I sure have been getting interesting mail lately…" he mumbled to himself as he opened the envelope.

As soon as he unfolded the letter his eyes widened a bit. It was all hand-written and after reading the first few sentences, Levi was shocked when he realized who the letter was from.

* * *

Dear Levi,

I hope this letter finds you in good health. It may come as a shock to you that I have sent this after all that has happened, but I would like you to please read what I have to say. I hope with this letter you will better understand the situation I have found myself in and why I was forced to put you and Eren through it as well.

As you may know, Carla was feeling very unwell the couple weeks before her murder. She seemed to have made a full recovery and went back to her job once she was feeling better. What you and Eren did not know was that I had actually given her an experimental drug that my company had worked on for years. This drug was being developed to cure many illnesses that previously had no cure to speak of. Carla's sickness was near fatal, I panicked and gave her the drug while she was sleeping one night via injection and to my relief she had gotten better within a matter of days.

I feel that although I did this to prolong her life, my actions may have gotten Carla killed despite that. The criminal organization that was responsible for her death is actually linked to a much larger, dangerous, underground group called Eotena . They have a bizarre goal of ruling the world, and holding a cure-all drug in their hands would give them much power. They have been after this cure for some time and have been monitoring the movements of the scientists and doctors working on it. I always feared for my family's lives so I often stayed at my workplace instead of coming home. If I could work on this miracle cure faster and get it out before this group got their hands on it, then I could have been free from worry. But my desperation to cure Carla ended up backfiring and I have concluded that somehow they must have found out that she had taken this drug.

I am not entirely sure why they decided to take her life, but I can only assume that she absolutely refused to cooperate with them. When I found out my wife died and who had killed her, I panicked and never returned home. I did not want them finding me as they must have known by now where I lived. But most of all, I did not want my son, Eren, to get involved. Fearing that they would trace his whereabouts from me, I left him without a word. I felt that if I told him or made any kind of contact with him it would jeopardize both of our lives.

My only hope was that someone would take Eren in and I was confident that you, Levi, would at least make sure he'd go to a good home. I cannot apologize enough for laying this burden on you, but I feel that this was the best way for me to handle the situation and ensure Eren's safety. I may not have been a good husband or father but I love my family very much.

There are no words to express how grateful I am that you have taken such good care of my son since then. I have heard that he has graduated from high school and is now attending the same law school you graduated from. I felt so much regret that I could not attend Eren's graduation, but knowing that you undoubtedly went helped me cope with it. There could not be a better person for Eren to look up to, and I thank you. In my mind, I always knew Eren would want to follow in your footsteps instead of mine – and I am grateful for that, because I know this way he will be happier.

Even now I am wary of sending this letter, but I felt I could not keep you waiting for a man who was never going to return to come back. Eotena seemed to have been quiet the last few months and I'm hoping with the many middle-men this letter was sent through it will not pose any threat. In fact, it would probably put me at ease if Eren went as far as changing his last name to break the last thing connecting us. But I digress.

I have purposely left these letters unmarked, so I ask of you to not attempt to contact me or send a reply letter. I am not sure if I will ever be able to see my son again and I live in constant regret that my actions may have led to Carla's death. But I hope that maybe some time in the future I can be free of this worry and be able to see Eren's face once more. I live for the day to see my son smiling again.

Please give the second envelope to Eren. I have written a letter to him as well and included some things I thought he might want. You may let him read this letter so he knows the reasons I never returned.

Once again, thank you for everything you have done for my family. It must've been a miracle and blessing to have had you move in that day as our neighbor.

Sincerely, Grisha Yeager

* * *

Levi read over the letter twice just to make sure he fathomed everything that was written down. He was still in shock that he had actually heard from Eren's father who had been missing this whole time. Levi had always felt a bit of bitterness towards Mr. Yeager for leaving his son and the responsibility of taking care of his wife's death, but with this everything made sense.

He really never found himself becoming too angry, though, because it meant that he and Eren could live together. Levi felt slightly guilty that he had now taken Eren in as more than just a friendly neighbor… But he was happier than he had been in a long time and it was all because of Eren.

Levi looked over the envelope addressed to Eren without opening it. He thought it would be best for Eren to read it when he got home, although he was curious about what else was inside.

As opportunity would have it, Eren returned home as Levi decided to give his letter a third look over. He heard Eren announce that he was home and taking off his shoes.

"I'm in here," Levi called out from the couch and heard footsteps approaching.

"Hey, Levi," Eren said with a sigh but a cheery tone nonetheless.

Levi glanced over, "Come and sit," he folded the letter and set it beside him.

Eren obeyed and settled close to Levi, leaning over to give him a simple kiss on the lips. Eren straightened up and ran a hand through Levi's hair who avoided his eyes. Eren made a concerned face.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Levi paused for a moment, "I got a letter today, so did you," he said quietly.

Eren could feel himself getting worried by Levi's behavior. "Is it… bad?"

"No, but it's very important for you to read them," Levi grabbed the letter that he had set beside him. "Here, you should read mine first."

The worried expression didn't leave Eren's face as he grabbed for the letter and slowly unfolded it. Levi watched Eren and saw his face turn into shock after a few seconds had passed.

"Dad…" he said under his breath and looked up at Levi.

"Keep reading," Levi encouraged and Eren's eyes went back to the letter.

Eren read on and his brow began to furrow and remained on his face the entire time. His expression was difficult to judge as to how he was feeling, so Levi waited for Eren to finish and see his reaction.

When he finished, Eren looked up from the letter, still wearing the same expression.

"There's a letter for me?" He asked quietly.

Levi nodded and grabbed the letter from off the coffee table and handed it over to Eren who proceeded to open up the envelope without a word. The letter was a lot shorter but Eren's face visibly softened while he read it.

* * *

Dear Eren,

I assume you have read the letter I wrote to Levi so I won't bother re-stating everything in this letter. Instead, I'd like to tell you that I love you more than I love myself, so I hope that you can forgive me for abandoning you at your most vulnerable time in life. There is nothing I can do to make it up to you, but I hope that this small gift can make even a fraction of it more bearable. I know your mother would've liked you to have our wedding bands so I've included both of them with this letter. I hope that one day you can make someone as happy as your mother made me.

I miss you more than I can stand, but I am infinitely grateful that Levi has taken care of you in our absence. I hope you can be happy despite the tragedies that have come upon your life. But remember that I will always be thinking of you.

Love, Dad

* * *

A single tear ran down Eren's face and Levi reached out to rub his hand against Eren's face. Eren leaned slightly into his hand and reached into the envelope to pull something out. It was a small, simple, draw-string bag. Levi watched as Eren removed the contents onto the palm of his hand and a smile spread across his face despite the tears that rolled down from his eyes.

"It's their wedding bands…" Eren's voice crack and looked up Levi. He clenched his hand and brought it to his chest. "I miss them so much…" Eren set his head against Levi's chest and quietly sobbed. Levi rubbed his hand against Eren's back and kissed the top of his head.

"I know," Levi said in a comforting voice.

He let Eren cry as his mix of emotions poured out. Eren was happy, upset, and overwhelmed at the same time. Suddenly hearing from his father after all this time was shocking, and he couldn't even begin to figure out how his father had gotten ahold of his mother's wedding band.

It was also a shock to hear that this criminal organization was larger than what was on the surface. But Eren was only fueled further to stop them. Not only his mother but now his father was in danger – even he was in danger.

Levi had heard of the group Eotena during his legal career, but they were such a massive group with immensely strong influences it was difficult to do anything about them. It was actually quite dangerous to involve them in any sort of legal action and they were stronger than any other yakuza group as it had ties outside the country. Upon learning that the smaller group was connected to such a terrifying organization, Levi wondered if it was okay to allow Eren to fulfill his goal. But right now he didn't want to worry about that – he wanted to concentrate on Eren who just received all of this shocking news.

After a few minutes, Eren had wiped the tears from his face and straightened himself up. He looked down and turned the wedding bands in his hand over with a slight clinking sound.

"Are you alright now?" Levi asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah," Eren answered, still looking at the rings. "I'm glad I heard from dad, I feel a lot better now." He paused for a moment. "He said that he hoped I made someone as happy as my mother made him," he looked up at Levi. "That's why he gave me these wedding bands," he gave a nervous laugh.

"Hmm…" Levi hummed and gave them a look.

"Too bad I can't get married…" Eren slipped both rings onto his ring finger. "Maybe I'll just put them on my necklace."

"You can't get married?" Levi asked.

Eren looked up at Levi, "Yeah, I'm spending the rest of my life with you so it's not like I'm going to get married. Unless one of us turns into a girl one day… Two guys can't get married in Japan…" Eren looked slightly disappointed.

"You aren't going to keep your promise then?" Levi asked. Eren gave him a confused look. "You know, that you're going to marry me?"

Eren's face flushed, "Well, that was just a joke… I was a kid," he couldn't believe Levi brought that up once again.

"So you don't want to get married anymore?" Levi pressed.

"W-Well, I would like to but…" Eren fidgeted, "Would you really want to do something like that?"

Levi leaned in a bit and grabbed his letter, "Well, your father did say he wished you would change your last name… And you've definitely made me happy."

Eren's mouth dropped, "… Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Eren's wide eyes beamed in Levi's direction.

Levi gave a small smile and looked up at Eren, "We could always go the adoption route, unless you'd rather go out of the country and get a legal marriage."

Eren's face broke into a smile and wrapped his arms around Levi, "Could we really get married?" He said in a gasping but happy voice.

Levi returned the embrace and hugged Eren tight, "I think we should take it slow and possibly do it after you graduate, but being married to you doesn't sound so bad." He smirked against the side of Eren's face.

Eren brought his lips against Levi's into a slow kiss, "I love you," he said with a smile, looking into Levi's eyes.

Levi leaned in for another kiss, "I love you too."

"So, are you my fiancé now?" Eren asked with a grin.

"Guess I am, so where's my proposal ring?" Levi lifted a corner of his mouth.

"Ah… I guess I should get one…" Eren mumbled under his breath.

"Don't be stupid, I don't need one. I was just teasing you," Levi huffed and ruffled Eren's hair. "Besides, it was mostly me doing the proposing."

"No way, I proposed first when I was a kid," Eren said.

"You've kept me waiting a long time for a ring then," Levi teased and placed another kiss on Eren's lips. "I just need you so it doesn't really matter."

Eren gave a warm smile and wrapped his arms around Levi's waist as their kissing continued. Both of their bodies started growing warmer and hands started moving across backs and chests. Eren sighed with a small nip at the base of his neck.

"Okay, we're moving this to the bedroom," Levi groaned, sitting up and lifting Eren up off the couch with him.

"Woah-" it was still pretty impressive that Levi could lift up Eren who was taller than him, but he thought it was kind of hot to be carried off into his lover's bedroom and know exactly what for.

Eren wrapped his arms around Levi's neck as he was whisked away into the room they would probably be spending a majority of their small vacation in.


	11. Chapter 11

Eren wrapped his scarf around his neck tighter as he walked down the bustling streets of the town. There was a light snowfall indicating that winter was definitely here. It was only a matter of days until his semester ended and he could finally earn a short break. This little walk into the shopping district part of town ended up being something he had done every day for the past week. He never bought a single thing and instead just window shopped, occasionally entering a store to take a brief look around before leaving.

He absolutely wanted to make sure he got Levi the best Christmas present he could find. Even though he had gone so much during the past week, he hadn't found the one thing to grab his attention. The reason that Levi's Christmas present was so important was because it was also his birthday. Eren even got himself a part time job to afford it, even after Levi vehemently advised against it. But Eren eventually won the argument stating that it would look irresponsible on his end if he went his whole college career without any work experience, and that volunteering at Levi's office wouldn't be enough.

Plus, he just wanted to buy Levi something with his own money. But what would be the best thing to get for your boyfriend's combined Christmas AND birthday present? Not only that, they were technically 'engaged' so shouldn't he go all out with the present? But Eren was at a complete loss as to what to get. Levi wasn't a very materialistic person, and in the past Eren got him simple things like a tie or cuff links. One year he had even gotten him a mini vacuum (which he still used).

The young man felt like maybe he would give up for the day until he passed by a shop he walked by every day, but today, something caught his eye. He halted and all of his attention was on the item on display in the window. It hadn't been there before so it must've been put up today. Eren wasn't sure why, but he knew that this was the present he was looking for. Holding back his excitement, he opened the door to the store in a hurry. The bell caused by the door opening gave a pleasant chime as Eren walked straight to the check-out counter.

"Can I ask about something in the window?"

* * *

Levi was working over-time in the office the last couple days. Just because the holidays were nearing didn't mean that the cases coming in got any less sparse. In fact, it seemed that even more crimes were committed around the holidays. He gave a huff as he finalized a case that ended the previous day and moved on to another that he, unfortunately, would have to be doing two days before Christmas. It seems that justice never has a day off…

As Levi thumbed through the details of the new case, someone burst in through the office, giving him quite a shock.

"Levi! Hanji!" Erwin sounded flustered, which was honestly something that did not happen often.

"What is it?" Levi asked after getting over the initial shock.

"Yeah, what's got you so worked up?" Hanji added, peaking up from her desk.

"There's an important trial to be held against a key player in a major crime syndicate coming up…" Erwin's face had a hardened into a serious look.

"You don't mean…" Levi trailed off under his breath.

"It's exactly what it sounds like. One of the members of Eotena is being tried for grand theft in multiple instances along with several other charges. This case is huge and they are requesting prosecution from our office."

Hanji and Levi looked to each other and then back to Erwin.

"Are we taking this case?" Hanji asked with a bit of nervousness in her voice.

"It's less of them asking and more of them insisting…" Erwin's brow wrinkled slightly. "In fact, they're specifically asking for Levi."

Hanji's head turned toward the man in question with a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, I'll take it," Levi said in a calm voice.

"No! It's dangerous!" Hanji tried not to shout too loudly.

"Levi, you don't have to do it. Hanji is right; trying such a high-profile criminal can be very dangerous. Think about the peripheral damages it could cause from other members of the group… The danger it could put Eren in," Erwin sided with Hanji, his eyes sternly settled on Levi.

The shorter man remained quiet for a moment. He knew just as much as Erwin and Hanji how dangerous prosecuting a criminal like this was; it would turn the entire organization against him. And of course because of this, Eren could be put in potential danger. But this was the organization Eren was determined to take down, wasn't he already putting himself in danger anyway? It was difficult to say, it was one thing if Eren was doing this trial himself rather than Levi doing it. And Levi couldn't deny that he had worried about Eren getting involved with this group ever since he discovered they were connected to his mother's murder.

"I'll do it. We're all in danger whether any of us does it, right? Besides, I'm the best prosecutor in this firm. If this were a defense case I'd hand it to you, Erwin, but I can handle this." Levi made his claim with conviction. He wasn't a dominant figure in the legal world for nothing. "Besides, if we keep cowering in fear from this organization they'll never be put to an end. This could be the first step to cracking down on them. We'll show them that the law is not something to mess with."

Erwin's eyebrows rose for a moment and slowly his face softened into a smile, still with a bit of worry, but he knew where Levi was coming from. "Alright, I trust you, and you're right. I'll get you the case info as soon as I can."

"If anyone can get a guilty verdict, you can, Levi," Hanji gave a smile of confidence and a thumbs up.

"Let's show them we're not a force to be reckoned with," Levi couldn't help but smirk despite his lingering nervousness about the case.

* * *

Eren arrived home later that night, glad to be out of the chilly weather. He noticed that Levi was home after seeing his car in the driveway so he hid the small package with the present in a pocket of his coat.

"I'm home!" he announced after taking off his shoes, scarf, and jacket.

"Welcome back," Levi called out from the living room where he was watching TV.

Eren walked past the couch, leaning over to give Levi a peck on the cheek before heading towards his room to hide his present.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Eren asked, coming back out into the living room.

"Whatever is fine," Levi's eyes didn't leave the TV.

Eren sulked a bit, "Okay, I'll make 'whatever' then."

Eren walked towards the kitchen and looked through the cupboards for something to cook. He knew Levi was still handling a lot of cases and was drained by the end of the day so he tried not to take his lackluster behavior personally.

Deciding that he didn't want to cook something too complicated, he settled on spaghetti after spotting a package of pasta on the shelf. After getting the necessary ingredients ready, the water in the pot was hot enough to add the uncooked pasta. Eren began to slowly plunge them in the boiling water as he heard Levi enter the kitchen. A few moments later he felt two arms wrap around his waist and a body press up against him.

"…Levi?" Eren was a little shocked but glad for the familiar touch.

"Hm?" Levi had settled his head against Eren shoulder and didn't seem like he was making any plans to move.

"Is everything alright?" Although Eren rather liked this affection it wasn't something Levi would typically do.

"Just things at work…" Levi mumbled into Eren's back. There was a pause for a moment before he continued. "Actually, I should probably sit down and have a talk with you about it."

"Huh? Is it something that concerns me?" Eren asked curiously, now stirring the pasta.

"In a way… yes," Levi lifted his head and loosened his grip around Eren. "We'll talk during dinner."

Eren couldn't think of what Levi needed to tell him and spent the rest of his time cooking in thought. As the two sat down for dinner, it was rather quiet and it didn't seem like Levi was going to be speaking up any time soon. Eren got a little restless over the quiet atmosphere and dragged his fork across the plate, making a screeching noise that caused Levi to look up in annoyance.

"S-Sorry…" Eren mumbled.

Levi sighed, "No, its fine, I know I should get to what I want to discuss with you." He cleared his throat, setting his fork down on his plate. "I'll get straight to the point – we're prosecuting a key member of Eotena next month. This is a major breakthrough in taking them down."

Eren's eyes widened in shock, he froze with a fork-full of spaghetti on its way to his mouth in mid-air. "Really!? Let me-"

"No." Levi interrupted with a stern voice. "I don't want you getting involved in this at all. I'm already taking a risk by taking on this case. By putting myself in danger I'm putting you in danger as well."

"But I have to do something! They killed my mother! And so many other people – and they're after my dad!" Eren was now shouting, his fork back on his plate and his hands gripping at the edge of the table.

"And what exactly are you going to do? You aren't a prosecutor yet, Eren," Levi looked directly into the young man's eyes with a serious expression.

"I…" Eren's face visibly dropped as his eyes settled on his half eaten plate of food. "I don't know, but I have to do something, I have to take revenge-"

"Eren." Levi interrupted again, "What did I tell you about entering this business solely out of revenge? That will cause nothing but trouble. Eotena is not the kind of group to take lightly, they're dangerous." Levi huffed and ran a hand through his hair. "If it were up to me I wouldn't let you get involved with them at all. Just the fact that I'm prosecuting this case is putting you in more danger than I'd like. If they come after me because of this and you somehow get in their way. I…" Levi's voice made a barely audible crack, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something were to happen to you…" He rested a hand on his forehead, breathing slowly in and out, as if he was trying to resist bursting into tears right then and there.

"Levi…" Eren's voice was now quiet and his rage had subsided. He reached out to Levi's other hand that was resting on the table and gently squeezed it. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking properly." Eren was secretly happy that Levi got so upset over him, but it also hurt to see him this way.

Levi set his other hand down and looked across the table at Eren, "Eotena won't be taken down so easily. This court case is going to be the first of many. It'll probably take years until they're finished. During that time – become the best damn prosecutor out there. Then you'll be the one that'll shut these bastards down once and for all." Levi squeezed Eren's hand back.

Eren gave a small smirk and nodded, "You bet I will."

* * *

Christmas Eve had approached faster than anyone could imagine and Eren was glad that he had bought all of his Christmas presents when he did. He had bought Mikasa a new scarf as a replacement for the old one he gave her. But the plan didn't seem to work as she just layered it on top of the new one. He got Armin a special edition book of medieval tales, knowing he was a history and literature nut and double majored in them for college. Eren had neatly wrapped Levi's gift and stowed it away under their fake Christmas tree they had a bought a few years ago. Eren was shocked when he learned that Levi never gotten a real or fake tree since moving into the apartment and forced him to go out the first Christmas they spent together and buy a tree.

It was still early in the morning and Eren ran to the passenger's seat of Levi's car as to not spend too much time in the early, cold, morning than he had too. He rubbed his hands together as the heat of the warm car washed over him.

"Ready?" Levi asked, putting his seatbelt on.

"Yep," Eren also clicked on his seatbelt and the car slowly reversed out of the drive-way.

The two were on their way to the cemetery. Eren tried to visit his mother's grave as much as possible, but with law school taking up most of his time, his visits had become less frequent. But Eren always made sure he could make it to her grave on Christmas Eve. Christmas had been her favorite holiday – she would always spend the entire day before Christmas baking cookies and Eren would be at her heels anticipating her delicious baking. They celebrated traditionally since his father was from a strong Christian background, and his mother found the familial way of celebrating the holiday special and heartwarming.

The ride was about a half hour away from their house and the drive over was a silent but comfortable ride. Levi often went along with Eren to her grave as he always considered Mrs. Yeager one of his closest friends. There were times when he truly missed having her around – she was almost like a second mother or aunt to him.

They arrived at the cemetery, noticing the presence of a few other people who had come to visit. Eren made his way to his mother's grave, Levi following behind, with a bouquet of lilies – her favorite flower. At the moment he arrived, he noticed footsteps in the snow leading to her grave.

"Huh?" Eren questioned out loud. Despite his lack of family, his mother had friends that he was sure possibly visited her grave, but he came every Christmas Eve and never noticed anyone else come to visit. He couldn't imagine who could've been here before him. As Eren approached the grave, he bent down to set the bouquet against it and noticed something else already there: a single lily in a vase. Eren stared at the flower for a bit and looked behind him and up at Levi.

"Someone… left my mom a lily…" He said in a soft voice. He stood up and looked around, as if he'd find that person still at the cemetery.

"That's odd, there's never anything else on her grave when we come here," Levi looked down at the vase.

Eren looked back down at the flower and noticed a small tag tied to the stem; it simply read 'To my love'. He gasped in realization, "…Dad?" His voice was still quiet as he frantically looked about in every direction. "Dad!?" He said in a louder voice, still looking around.

Levi placed a hand on Eren's shoulder and his head whipped around, his eyes settled on the shorter man, "He's probably already left. He would've made sure that you two wouldn't cross paths," he said in a calm voice.

Eren frowned a bit but he knew Levi was right. He couldn't help feeling hopeful. Eren calmed down a bit and focused his attention back on the grave.

"Merry Christmas, mom. I'm glad you got to see dad," a sad smile spread across his face.

Levi knelt down next to Eren, placing a hand on his back, "We miss you, Carla, but I will take care of Eren no matter what."

Eren looked over at Levi and saw a serious expression on his face.

"I love Eren. So I hope I can have your blessings, and I promise you – I will make him happy."

Eren's eyes widened a bit and smiled. He settled his head on Levi's shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. The two sat there without a word, not knowing how much time had passed by until they were ready to leave and return home.

* * *

Eren got up extra early and quietly snuck out of bed and into the kitchen. Getting a gift for Levi was simply not enough for him having a birthday on the same day, and decided to cook him breakfast before he woke up. Eren was a pretty good cook despite how messy he left the kitchen afterwards. He tried his hardest to not make too much noise in the kitchen, but hit a wall when he realized he needed to use the mixer. He sighed, but continued and turned on the loud kitchen appliance. Not to his surprise, a few minutes later Levi came out from the bedroom, grumbling, with full-on bedhead.

"What the hell are you doing making so much noise this early in the morning?" He asked once Eren turned off the mixer.

"Sorry… I wanted to make you breakfast in bed but I guess I didn't consider how loud it was going to be," Eren sulked.

"Jeeze," Levi yawned.

"Go back to bed! I'm doing everything for you today," Eren tried to shoo Levi out of the kitchen.

"I can't go back to sleep with you making all this racket," Levi replied.

"I promise that's the last loud thing I do. Just please do this, okay?" Eren begged in an almost whiney voice.

"Fine, fine," Levi gave up, it was too early to argue back and he couldn't deny that he would rather return to his cozy bed.

Eren went back to working on his meal and groaned when he realized he needed to use the juicer next.

Not much later, Eren was finished and made his way to their bedroom, the breakfast on a serving tray.

"Merry Christmas and happy birthday!" Eren said in a cheery voice as he walked through the doorway. Eren set the tray down on Levi's lap, who still looked like he was trying to wake up. Eren also set down a glass of juice down on the bed stand.

Levi looked down at the massive amount of food in front of him: pancakes with what seemed like red and green sprinkles, bacon, toast, miso soup, grilled fish… it was like some kind of strange western and Japanese combination breakfast platter. Not to mention the little Christmas ornament on the side of the tray.

As Levi was ready to ask Eren if he was trying to feed a person or an entire army, he looked up at him standing beside the bed and his question got stuck in his throat as he narrowed his eyes and got a good look.

"Um, I hope you like it…" Eren fidgeted with the edge of the apron he was wearing as if he were a shy high-school girl.

"Eren," Levi said in a low voice, "Are you wearing anything underneath that apron?"

Eren blushed a bit and placed a hand on the back of his neck, "I-Isn't this like a fantasy sort of thing? Your lover doing naked-apron and serving you breakfast in bed?" He laughed nervously.

"Exactly _whose_ fantasy is that?" Levi asked bluntly.

Eren's shoulders dropped, "I dunno, I thought you would like it…" He mumbled.

Levi gave a short sigh and lifted up the knife and fork on his tray. "Doesn't that part of the meal come later?" He began to cut the pancakes, Eren gave a curious look. "You're my 'desert' right? I'm going to be too full after eating this huge ass breakfast so I can't have my desert until later." Levi shoved a bite of pancakes into his mouth.

Eren nodded his head and looked a bit relieved, "Right, well, I was just giving you a sample," Eren gave a wink that Levi found more funny than sexy.

"Just go put some clothes on you brat," he tried to hold back a laugh by shoving some more pancakes into his mouth.

After Eren got dressed and Levi forced half of the gigantic meal onto Eren to eat the rest of, the two decided to start exchanging presents.

"Open mine first!" Eren said excitedly.

"Okay, okay," Levi grabbed the small package under the tree that was addressed 'From: Eren'. They only had a few presents under the tree as they decided on only getting one for each other. The rest were from friends – amongst who were Mikasa, Armin, Erwin, and Hanji. Hanji's was always rather… amusing.

Levi neatly unwrapped the present (of course he wouldn't tear the wrapping paper to shreds like normal people, despite how satisfying it was) and slowly took the lid off of the box.

"I know you don't really wear jewelry but something about it caught my eye and I had to buy it for you," Eren explained before Levi could give his reaction.

Levi pulled out a necklace with a thin chain and a shiny, silver, and emerald charm hanging from it. It was in the shape of a shield with a pair of wings on top of it. Levi took a closer look at the necklace and a small smile spread across his lips.

"I like it, thank you," he slid it over his neck and leaned over to give Eren a kiss on the cheek.

"Really? You like it?" Eren asked with a slight blush on his face.

"Yes, of course. Wings of Freedom, huh?" Levi looked over the little paper that was in the box that gave a short description of the charm on the necklace.

_'The Wings of Freedom do not only represent freedom, but a strong will. This design symbolizes the strength of the person who wears it and also displays the strength of the relationships with the people closest to them, as their wings surround and protect those they hold near to their heart.'_

"Yeah, for some reason it reminded me of you," Eren said with a smile.

Levi leaned over and grabbed another present from under the tree and handed it to Eren. Knowing that it was Levi's present he opened it excitedly.

"I so happened to have gotten you jewelry too," Levi said, watching Eren open the box.

Looking into the box, Eren noticed a gold banded ring which held a single stone, also an emerald, set into it.

"I decided I wanted to get you an engagement ring after all. Ah, I thought it might be too early to get you one, but, what was it you said? – 'For some reason it reminded me of you'." Levi gave a half smile.

Eren beamed and wrapped his arms around Levi, "Jerk, I was supposed to be the one giving you the ring…"

"Guess I beat you to the punch," Levi let out a light chuckle.

Eren lifted his head; he slipped the ring on his finger and gently placed his lips on Levi's. After a moment, their lips separated but they're faces remained close and Eren rested his forehead against Levi's, whose hand slowly caressed the side of Eren's neck.

"Thank you," he gave another brief kiss. "So… do you want that desert now?" Eren asked in a quiet voice, locking gazes with Levi.

"You don't want to open the rest of your presents?" Levi's voice and body defied what he was saying, as it was low and deep, his other hand now resting on Eren's waist.

"They can wait…" Eren pressed their lips together again and sucked gently on Levi's lower lip.

Levi hummed in agreement and leaned closer to deepen their kiss. Eren felt himself being pushed back and both of them ended up on the floor. Levi ran a hand through Eren's hair, keeping their lips together, as Eren rested his hands on Levi's back. Levi's other hand began to wander under Eren's shirt, slowly caressing his hips and stomach.

Their lips separated for a moment and Eren spoke up, "Do you really want to do it here?" His face was a bit flushed and his breathing was a bit erratic.

"What, you don't want to do it under the Christmas tree?" Levi gave a sly smirk and continued to stroke Eren's lower abdomen.

Eren's face become a shade redder and his eyes looked off to the side. "I-If you really want to…" he mumbled.

Levi let out a short laugh and got up on his knees, "I was just kidding, I don't want to do it on this hard floor, come on," he held out a hand to Eren.

Clasping their hands together, the two made their way into the bedroom. Levi sat down on the bed first and pulled Eren onto his lap and brought him into another kiss. Levi then kissed at the neck in front of him; his hand inched up Eren's back and under his shirt, slowly starting to lift it off. Eren made quick work of taking off Levi's and the two fell back on the bed. Together in a messy but passionate kiss, Levi trailed his hands up and down Eren's torso, the two making the occasional soft moan.

Eren pushed his hips against Levi's, the heat in their lower bodies growing and their half-hard, clothed erections rubbing against each other. Levi grabbed at either side of Eren's hips and swayed his pelvis upward in order to create more friction. Eren let out a louder moan, his lips still on Levi's, their tongues darting in and out of each other's mouths. Levi grabbed at the hem of Eren's pants and slowly pulled them down, taking his boxers with it. When he had pulled them half-way down, both of Levi's hands grabbed Eren's ass. Eren moaned as Levi squeezed his hands.

Eren struggled with getting Levi's pants down while he was on top of the man, but managed to get them down to his thighs as well, kicking off his own pants to the side of the bed. Eren rolled his hips against Levi's, their hot, exposed erections now rubbed against each other. Levi gathered them both up into one of his hands and slowly started to stroke them together. He let out a low groan and nibbled at the base of Eren's neck. Eren gave a contented sigh as he couldn't help but move his hips in time with the strokes.

"Levi…" Eren murmured in a breathless voice. He placed his hands on Levi's chest and sat up.

Levi's breathing was already heavy as he released the grip on their cocks; his eyes drank in the sight of Eren's blushing, lean body straddling over his lap. Eren leaned over Levi to get a bottle of lube from the nightstand. Although the two of them had busy lives, this was a process they were all too familiar with and it didn't take long for Eren to gauge the amount of preparation he needed when he prepared himself. Levi was rather big, but by now Eren had gotten used how it felt. And it was always tantalizing to watch Eren be the one preparing himself, Levi had to admit he got a jolt out of watching.

Levi's hands rubbed up Eren's sides slowly, massaging up to his chest and making sure to tease his hardened nipples a bit. Eren groaned as he slipped his fingers out from his entrance once he felt he was ready. Eren leaned over and planted a kiss on Levi's lips before gripping at the base of the older man's cock and steadying the tip at his entrance.

"Wait, condom…" Levi said in a low voice. He really didn't want to stop what was happening but Eren always seemed to make sure to wear protection.

"It's fine for today, right? We're both clean, and you aren't getting me pregnant any time soon," Eren said in a hushed voice, a smirk formed across his mouth as he sat back up. "I just want to feel you as close as possible," Eren's voice became deeper but seemed like now there was a pleading tone to his voice.

Levi couldn't help but shudder a bit and just nodded. Not only had they never had sex without a condom but they had never had sex like this, with Eren on top of Levi like he was right now. Levi drank in the sight of Eren now slowly penetrating himself on Levi's hard erection. Eren groaned softly as the head sunk in and slowly lowered himself to take in the rest of its girth.

"Nn…" Eren leaned forward a bit, "You're so big… it feels so full," he said quietly be Levi's ear.

Levi settled his hands on Eren's thighs and gently rolled his hips up, earning another groan from Eren.

"It's all the way in…" Levi looked up at Eren's face, his eyes slightly tearing up which he couldn't tell if it was from pain or pleasure or embarrassment.

"I can't believe it…" Eren sat up once again and rocked his hips forward. "Mn…" He slowly repeated the motion and seemed to enjoy the feeling as his half-hard cock started growing back to life again.

Levi's hands moved up to Eren's hips, reveling in the incredibly hot sensation of his dick making direct contact inside of Eren. The motion of Eren's swaying created a pure feeling of ecstasy he felt like he was drowning in. He couldn't hold back low groans as Eren's rocking motion picked up its pace.

"So good… Eren," he mumbled in an unsteady voice.

Eren's hands grabbed Levi's and lifted them up, lacing their fingers together. Supporting his weight on his knees and Levi's hands Eren lifted himself half-way up Levi's cock and slid back down. He continued in a methodical, steady motion. Each time their skin met in a slapping sound.

Eren's moans became more audible and concentrated the thrusts against his prostate. Levi's breathing became heavy and he could feel he was also thrusting his hips in time with Eren's, his cock being enveloped over and over again by Eren's insatiable hole was nearly sending him over the edge.

"Shit, Eren, I'm cumming soon…" he let out a groan and squeezed Eren's hands tight.

"M-Me too…" Eren whined, quickening his pace as the room became filled with louder sounds of their bodies slapping together. "You can cum inside…" he whimpered.

Levi immediately knew he liked the sound of that idea. A lot. He let go of his grasp on Eren's hands and grabbed at his hips again. Making a few powerful thrusts upward, burying himself deeper than he could imagine, he felt his cock pulsate and release a hot torrent of pleasure. Eren let out a whine of Levi's name at almost the same time, bucking his hips a bit as Levi felt the warm liquid shoot out over his chest.

Levi remained inside for a few moments, riding out the peak of his orgasm inside of Eren. Eren was now collapsed on top of Levi trying to catch his breath, and not much concerned about the semen now covering both of their stomachs. Levi just lay there to try to catch his own breath and waited for himself to soften enough to slide out of Eren. The young man could feel a bit of it run out between his legs and became highly conscious of it.

"Ah, how am I going to clean that out?" Eren said out loud in a low voice.

"Don't worry about it right now," Eren lifted his head off of Levi's chest and was met with a kiss. "Right now I just want to sit and let how good my Christmas slash birthday desert was settle over me for a while."

Eren gave a light chuckle, "So it was good, huh?" He gave Levi another kiss and settled his head in the crook of his boyfriend's neck. "Alright, but your 'icing' feels kind of gross just sitting in there so not for too much longer."

"Don't complain, you asked for it. You even made some 'icing' of your own without me even having to touch you – I'd say you enjoyed it just as much," Levi replied in a sly tone.

"Shut up…" Eren grumbled, his ears turning red.

* * *

Levi stood in front of his mirror, checking for the umpteenth time to make sure his tie was on right, when in reality he was just making excuses to prolong leaving the house. Honestly, he hadn't been so nervous about a trial in a long time. Sure, he had taken on some pretty important cases before, but he had never taken one on so high-profile. It was enough to work on any prosecutor's iron will.

"You look fine," a voice from behind him pulled him from his thoughts and back to reality. He felt a warmth against his back and two arms wrap themselves around his waist. "You're the best prosecutor in the country, and those bastards are going to be taken down no matter what lawyer they hired." Eren gently kissed behind Levi's ear.

"I hope you're right," Levi placed a hand over one of Eren's and gave it a squeeze, his finger brushed against the engagement ring.

"Of course I'm right!" Eren huffed. The two stood in front of the mirror for a moment without saying anything. "Guess you should get going…"

Eren released his grip and Levi turned around to walk out of the room. The two made their way to the entrance of their house and stood at the doorway.

Levi slipped his shoes on, "I'm just getting them ready for the real pain they'll be facing when you get your chance to take stab at them," Levi's lips upturned slightly.

Eren smiled and nodded, "Hell yeah, we'll take them down together."

Levi gave another kiss to Eren before heading out the door. Getting into his car he let out a long, deep sigh and buckled himself in. Before starting up his engine, he pulled at the chain around his neck that had been tucked in underneath his suit and gave the charm at the end a tight squeeze, closing his eyes.

"We'll take them down together," he whispered to himself, then put the key into the ignition – the car started with a rumble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found this ending of leaving the results of the court case up in the air fitting as in the actual series we really don't know what's going to happen.  
> Thank you for reading my story. ^^ This was my first RiRen story and I had fun with it. I found out after writing this that the age of "adults" are different in Japan and the age of consent is also different but eh, this is an AU. I hope you enjoyed the story regardless and thanks again!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


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